Terrence Howard Ordered To Pay Nearly $1 Million In Back Taxes, Previously Claimed It Was ‘Immoral’ For ‘US Government To Charge Taxes To Descendants Of Slaves’

Terrence Howard

Terrence Howard Ordered To Pay Nearly $1 Million In Back Taxes, Previously Claimed It Was ‘Immoral’ For ‘US Government To Charge Taxes To Descendants Of Slaves’

Terrence Howard was just handed a nearly $1 million tax bill.

A federal judge has ordered the 54-year-old Empire alum to pay $903,115 in back taxes after he, per multiple reports, claimed it was

“immoral for the United States government to charge taxes to the descendants of slaves.”

Terrence Howard

He had previously dodged the IRS’ attempt to collect $578,000 in income taxes that he didn’t pay between 2010 and 2019. (His most recent listed address was in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia.)

After months of trying, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Terrence Howard. He responded to the complaint once, allegedly in a scathing voicemail to the lead tax attorney in November. The transcript of his call was included in court documents, where the Shirley actor denied owing anything, and warned he would humiliate and expose her by posting the lawsuit online. He said,

“Four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it. Now you have the gall to try and prosecute and charge taxes to the descendants of a broken people that you are responsible for causing the breakage.”

Terrence Howard’s message was cut off but he called back to continue his rant, reportedly telling the tax attorney,

“In truth, the entire United States should, by default, become the property of the descendants of slaves. But since you do not have the ability [or] the courage to do it, let’s try this in court. … We’re gonna bring you down.”

The Hustle & Flow star has yet to respond to the lawsuit in court, and the voicemail reportedly serves as his only reaction.

Terrence Howard

Last week, U.S. District Judge John F. Murphy ruled in the US government’s favor and ordered Howard to pay $903,115.

This isn’t the first time Howard has faced tax issues.

In 2005 and 2006, tax liens adding up to nearly $639,000 were filed on his Plymouth Meeting home, which spans across 2,450 square feet. Those cases were ultimately settled. Still, in 2010, the IRS hit Howard with a $1.1 million tax lien for the same home after he allegedly failed to pay income taxes in 2007 and 2008.

Then, in 2019, Howard faced another lien, this time from the State of California Franchise Tax Board, which claimed he owed $144,000 dating to 2010. Last year, the board put him on the list of California’s Top 500 tax culprits, alleging he owed $256,000.

The latest lien comes after Howard called out pay disparities in Hollywood, alleging he only made $12,000 from Hustle & Flow. 

[VIA]