Exaggerated Income Bites College Students...

[Willie Crawford]

Interesting story...

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Willie

[lgibbon]

Originally Posted by Willie Crawford

Interesting story...

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Willie

Why not put a direct link Willie?
Tinyurl is blocked by zonealarm etc so a lot of
us will never get to see it.

[jjpmarketing]

Here is the direct link:

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[BIG Mike]

So....who wants to fess up about how much they really make now? LOL

Expect to see more and more of this in the future...

[ahuddy]

Well there is $320k of the $700B that we have to pay...

[John M Kane]

Ain't it great to live in amerika land of the fees

[jjpmarketing]

I threw a few keggers back in my college dayz. There was always a cover charge. That was just to pay for the alcohol. Social Host laws are bunch of BS. That is more or less telling people what they can or cannot do in their own homes. I like how they are trying to intimidate these kids with proof from myspace. LMFAO. They better get some real evidence. No evidence of sales, no evidence of a dollar amount to be taxed.

[BIG Mike]

No evidence of sales, no evidence of a dollar amount to be taxed.

This what actually got them into trouble in the first place. They compounded it by lying about what they were actually doing all along. Sound familiar?

[Willie Crawford]

Originally Posted by lgibbon

Why not put a direct link Willie?
Tinyurl is blocked by zonealarm etc so a lot of
us will never get to see it.

Sorry Les, I was mainly trying to make the link more managable
since it was such a long link.

Live and learn :-)

Willie

[Kevin Riley]

Another reason I never make income claims, although I don't think there's many who read English in my local tax office ;-)

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by Kevin Riley

Another reason I never make income claims, although I don't think there's many who read English in my local tax office ;-)

Same here brother!

[JohnMcCabe]

If the tax people actually believed statements on a Myspace page made by almost anyone, I have a real estate deal for them - if they can wait for low tide...

If the tax people are monitoring the Warrior Forum, could they send me some of those photocopies so I can patch the holes in my box, I mean roof?

[Kevin Riley]

Originally Posted by BIG Mike

Same here brother!

Ain't it terrific! They take one look at me when I make my yearly visit and are glad to see the backside of me. If I make a mistake on the form, they apologize to me. I love being a foreigner!

[jjpmarketing]

@Big Mike

I was stating that based on what evidence these tax investigators have. If it were a murder trial, that would get thrown out as "unverifiable proof". It wasn't a documented fact, it was just something they put on MySpace. How many fat people tell their real weight on MySpace? How many short people tell their real height? Exaggeration on sites like that is common place.

If all these investigators have is these kids MySpace page, then they don't have a leg to stand on.

Now that doesn't mean these kids are in the clear. They are still in deep cow dung.

For one thing they hosted parties at a business. This means that it was essentially treated like a business even though these kids didn't think it was. They had one wrestling venue, I believe.

For one thing, if do something like that publicly on the scale they did, there are major laws that got broken.

For one, most cities or towns require a beer/liquor license to sell drinks. I didn't hear any mention of that. On top of that there are sales tax, tourism tax, etc. And I would bet you money they broke that town's ordinance on underage drinking.

So more than likely even though the tax amount can't be proved they will have to do a lot of community service to rectify their actions. It is even possible they might spend some time in a county jailhouse. Of course that not having a license to sell alcohol might be a felony. If that is the case, then they are in trouble.

[Ken Leatherman]

Sheesh, back in the good old days it was all I could to do find the door to crawl back to my bunk after throwing one of those parties, much less remembering to file the paperwork.

Ken

[derekwong28]

Civil trials does not need the same level of proof as criminal trials e.g. OJ Simpson murder trial vs civil suit.

If you exagerate your income on this or other forums, you do so at your peril.

[Willie Crawford]

Originally Posted by jjpmarketing

@Big Mike

I was stating that based on what evidence these tax investigators have. If it were a murder trial, that would get thrown out as "unverifiable proof". It wasn't a documented fact, it was just something they put on MySpace. How many fat people tell their real weight on MySpace? How many short people tell their real height? Exaggeration on sites like that is common place.

The difference is that in some trials you are innocent until proven
guilty. The IRS, and some other agencies, can at times change
the rules to where you're presumed guilty until you prove otherwise.

The uninformed do allow the burden of proof to be shifted onto
their shoulders :-)

Willie

[John Rowe]

That story turned my stomach.

[Amy Bass]

Maybe the people who claim to make millions a year on their sales pages will want to take a hard look on if they want to get hit with a huge tax bill at the end of the year.

[John Taylor]

Originally Posted by John Rowe

That story turned my stomach.

My stomach is so big I have to get in a couple of freelancers to help turn it.. Now who's exaggerating?

John

[BIG Mike]

@jjpmarketing - My point is that people jump into ways to make some extra money without really looking at what they need to do to cover their ass.

Presumably, someone reported them (I didn't see mention of how it got started), and I'm guessing one or more of the business owners where the parties were hosted. I think this because they're getting nailed for sales tax and income on the drinks.

It's no different than you or I coming in here and making a claim of earnings to impress everyone or doing it a sales page. You get audited and let's face it, it is proof. You're advertising all over the net how much you're making (even if you're lying) and the tax people want their piece of it.

So say you admit you were lying, right? Now you're in deep doo doo for fraud. All because you wanted to meet girls and have some fun. Even though the underlying reasons were innocuous, that's not how things work.

Lying about weight or age or other things unrelated to a commercial venture is irrelevant. When you're lying to make money, it's a whole new ballgame. And that's a mistake a lot of marketers make online - unfortunately.

[Chris Lockwood]

Originally Posted by lgibbon

Why not put a direct link Willie?
Tinyurl is blocked by zonealarm etc so a lot of
us will never get to see it.

Then unblock it! It's not Willie's fault if people are using overly paranoid software.

This reminds me of people who write in and complain that their employers won't let them download stuff at work- as if I have control over that.

[jjpmarketing]

They didn't lie to make more money. They just lied to get more people to their parties. MySpace is hardly an advertisement... even though it may be used as such. So they probably won't get into any fraud troubles.

They didn't receive any of the money from the sales of the drinks. The owners did. The only money they received was if there was anything left over from cover charges... beyond what it cost to rent the party location, pay security, etc.

There is a huge difference between doing it on a sales page and what they did. A sales page has the motive to make a lot of money. Their MySpace page motive was just to throw killer parties.

As for claiming what you make publicly... while it could draw suspicion, and get you audited if tax auditors are trolling the warrior forum... they will still need proof you made the money. No paper trail, or no testimonies that state number of partiers, financial arrangements, etc. means no proof.

I am sure they will get the info they need from each of the business owners they rented space from.

But I do agree someone probably turned them in... but not the business owners. Because even if they paid taxes on drink sales... they still came out ahead in the deal. It was probably some jealous college student... or someone that had a personal vendetta with these guys.

[Chris Lockwood]

If I go on MySpace and say I make $100 a month, can I just pay taxes on that amount?

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood

If I go on MySpace and say I make $100 a month, can I just pay taxes on that amount?

Why don't you try it and let us know?

[lakshaybehl]

So I guess I am safe!!!!

Not a lot of tax detectives running online....

[lakshaybehl]

Even when i create that BUZZ...

[Muhammad Jalloh]

So Willie,

Are you sure you are not that "Businessman... Crawford" mentioned in that article? 'Cause it looks like you would then be sharing in the $320k tax bill.

Just want to be sure, you know?


~Muhammad

[pmgguy]

You're all missing the good side of this story...

shouldn't we all be able to DEDUCT the expenses related to party costs and bar tabs from college? I mean, would not that be a due diligence and business research expense?

I believe I'm due several thousand dollars in unclaimed deductions!

[TiffanyDow]

Scary. I've told some marketers before - the IRS scares me. They came to our home when I was a little girl and in front of me, the woman threatened to take us to foster care because my dad had misplaced a bag of receipts from his travel expenses.

She told him she could, "leave him naked on the streets and take his kids, too." (in front of me).

This IRS agent?

She was later arrested and put in jail for fraud.

(clap with me y'all).

This MySpace story is a sign that kids have to watch how they use social sites. Colleges now use it to screen applicants. Employers use it to screen applicants. Men and women use it to screen dates.

They need to teach this type of stuff in school now I strongly believe.
tiff

[Kay King]

This was state government tax commission - not IRS, though they may not be far behind if the tax commission wins anything.

The boasts and posturing of college students used to be confined to campus. With the internet they can look foolish worldwide. Progress.

Some people need to wake up about what they are putting online about themselves - even on MySpace. In a recent poll I read, almost 30% of employers checked out employees online before offering them a job.

Several also did interviews and showed why some people weren't hired due to comments and photos they had put on their MySpace account. If you are applying for a job that carries some responsibility, you might first want to remove the "drunk party animal" photos you posted online Just a thought.

kay

[Alan Petersen]

I hope the IRS checks on some of those sites on ClickBank claiming to make millions a second. Clean house of the fake it till you make it ilk.

[jjpmarketing]

That is a very scary thought Kay. In fact so scary, it borders on invasion of privacy. Even though this may be publicly available that is almost like descrimination. Just because I go out and get drunk 1 weekend out of 25 and post "drunk part animal" about it on the web, doesn't necessarily mean I drink every night and would come into work drunk. F***ing corporations piss me off. They won't pay people the money they deserve to be paid... some won't even pay a decent living wage. But then you have to jump through these kinds of hoops to get their crappy job? Give me break. What I do outside of work is none of my employers or potential employers business unless it directly relates to my job. Now if someone were trying to land an upper management position I could understand... but normal jobs... that should be way off limits. I hate corporations.

[valerieSONORA]

Wow LOL that's crazy. You hear a lot more about people getting in trouble and in court due to stuff they post on myspace or facebook.

Moral of the story- Be very careful about what you post on myspace or site like it. You never know who will see it.

[Robo90]

College students are very vulnerable

[AndrewCavanagh]

Originally Posted by Willie Crawford

The difference is that in some trials you are innocent until proven
guilty. The IRS, and some other agencies, can at times change
the rules to where you're presumed guilty until you prove otherwise.

The uninformed do allow the burden of proof to be shifted onto
their shoulders :-)

Willie

Yes that is the problem with taxation agencies in most countries.

They just charge you what they want and it's up to you to prove that the amount they say you owe is incorrect.

And meanwhile you have to pay the money or pay the interest on tax unpaid.

There's an amazing lack of any kind of real justice in this process.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[cypherslock]

jjmarketing I agree with you. Personally, I've never seen the point of being taxed 30-50% of income. Its like you get punished for doing well. I hate socialism!

[Willie Crawford]

Originally Posted by Muhammad Jalloh

So Willie,

Are you sure you are not that "Businessman... Crawford" mentioned in that article? 'Cause it looks like you would then be sharing in the $320k tax bill.

Just want to be sure, you know?


~Muhammad

Not that I'm aware of.

Willie

[Kevin Riley]

Originally Posted by TiffanyDow

Scary. I've told some marketers before - the IRS scares me. They came to our home when I was a little girl and in front of me, the woman threatened to take us to foster care because my dad had misplaced a bag of receipts from his travel expenses.

She told him she could, "leave him naked on the streets and take his kids, too." (in front of me).

This IRS agent?

She was later arrested and put in jail for fraud.

(clap with me y'all).

This MySpace story is a sign that kids have to watch how they use social sites. Colleges now use it to screen applicants. Employers use it to screen applicants. Men and women use it to screen dates.

They need to teach this type of stuff in school now I strongly believe.
tiff

Tiffany

I met a guy once who quit the IRS because of the way they do things. The IRS has a tendency to think they can do anything, and he said when they go after somebody they go full out. He was disgusted and sickened by the job and quit.

I think the IRS has too much power. My American friends here still have to file income taxes, even though they are Japanese residents now. I quit filing Canadian taxes the minute my feet touched Japanese soil - very different. America and Libya are the only two countries that can tax you even when you aren't a resident.

[jjpmarketing]

Originally Posted by Kevin Riley

Tiffany

I met a guy once who quit the IRS because of the way they do things. The IRS has a tendency to think they can do anything, and he said when they go after somebody they go full out. He was disgusted and sickened by the job and quit.

I think the IRS has too much power. My American friends here still have to file income taxes, even though they are Japanese residents now. I quit filing Canadian taxes the minute my feet touched Japanese soil - very different. America and Libya are the only two countries that can tax you even when you aren't a resident.

Are you kidding me? How is that even possible? If you live and work in a foreign country year round, then the US has nothing to do with that. How can they still tax your friends like that? I would understand if it was only a few months a year or something like that... but if they are residents of another country then the IRS shouldn't have access to that money.

[Jason_V]

As long as you maintain U.S. Citizenship and live/work abroad, you may still have to pay income tax:

Expat Tax Basics, Expatriate Tax help for US Citizens Living Abroad from GlobalTaxHelp.Com

Originally Posted by jjpmarketing

Are you kidding me? How is that even possible? If you live and work in a foreign country year round, then the US has nothing to do with that. How can they still tax your friends like that? I would understand if it was only a few months a year or something like that... but if they are residents of another country then the IRS shouldn't have access to that money.

[Kay Zee]

Originally Posted by Jason_V

As long as you maintain U.S. Citizenship and live/work abroad, you may still have to pay income tax:

Expat Tax Basics, Expatriate Tax help for US Citizens Living Abroad from GlobalTaxHelp.Com

WOW that really sucks. I wonder what the law is for people who are from the UK

[DavidPreston]

That is absolutely crazy!

It does mean they've got a long haul in front of them
though.

It's kind of ironic that the taxes WE all pay are funding
the investigation/prosecution of this "case".

Can you say Uncle yet?? (Uncle Sam that is)

David

[Angela V. Edwards]

Originally Posted by Willie Crawford

Interesting story...

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Willie

In other words, we must tell the IRS the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help us God?

[jjpmarketing]

Hmmm... Atheist's now have a tax loophole.