Tax Update Blog: Permalink

« Previous · Tax Update Blog Home · Next »

WALT ANDERSON - TAX CHEAT, OR MISUNDERSTOOD PHILATHROPIST?

March 07, 2005

In a jailhouse interview with the Washington Post, Walter Anderson says that he wasn't evading taxes on $450 million; he was just getting ready to give it away. He told the Post:

He was going to use the money to change the world. To fight for arms control and human rights. To promote family planning and space exploration. He was going to give the money away, starting next year.

"I don't need to steal money from the U.S. government to be successful," Anderson said in a wide-ranging 2 1/2-hour interview. "I don't want their money."

With all of those interests, no wonder he needed to stash it overseas before giving it away.

Mr. Anderson is awaiting a March 11 court appearance in jail after a U.S. Magistrate Judge denied him bail. The judge decided that his houses around the world, his fake British Guyana passport, and his possession of books about hiding assets and disappearing made him a flight risk.

Mr. Anderson has had brushes with the law before, but for lower stakes. In the 80s, according to the Post, he campaigned against car-pool lane restrictions as "government interference in people's private affairs" and was repeatedly ticketed for violating them.

Mr. Anderson told the Post that he made a good-faith effort to file tax returns on time and accurately. As he apparently still hasn't filed tax returns for 1987-1993, good faith must only get you so far.

Hat tip: The TaxProfs MSM Tax Roundup.

 • Walt       Bookmark: del.icio.us • Digg • reddit