Peter David just launched via a plea for fan donations due to an $88,000 tax bill that stems back to some TV work he did many years ago.
The IRS has been understaffed for a while, but they still have time to harass someone over a 20 year old tax debt. While my immediate advice to David is to get a good tax lawyer, he’s also asking for donations:
I’d love to say that we want the money because we want to repair the house, which is in desperate need, but that’s not the case. Every cent is going straight to the government.
Is it possible? Well, I have 5000 Facebook followers. If they each sent $10, that would get me halfway. I have over 13,000 Twitter followers. If they each sent $10, I’d be in the clear with money to pay any taxes due on the new income.
My Paypal account is [email protected]. Don’t use the donate button on this site; that will send the money to the Heroes Initiative.
Do you want to get something for the money? Fine: Send a check to my PO Box, PO Box 951, Bayport, NY 11705 along with books of mine and a SASE and I’ll sign them and send them back. That’s something, I guess.
Ummmmm No. The balls on this guy.
When I had a tax debt I worked out a payment plan with the IRS and paid it off over time. Why does he think his fans should pay for his debt? Shameful. He really comes off like an asshole. Pay your damn bills yourself Peter!
BTW if you are stupid enough to give this entitled tool any money I will give you my PayPal account so you can help me pay off my bills as well.
“The IRS has been understaffed for a while, but they still have time to harass someone over a 20 year old tax debt.”
If he owes this amount, and I’m sure he knew he did, then he should be held responsible in paying it off even after all these years. And I dunno… but a “celebrity” taking advantage of his fans like this seems pretty low. Mr. David should get a good tax lawyer and try to work out a payment plan with the IRS and pay his debt with his own money..
Is it just me, or is something…missing in the tone of the request? And he seems almost disgusted that you might expect something for your donation, when you’re really doing him a favor. This isn’t a medical emergency or anything. Now, $88K is a lot of money, and it seemingly came out of nowhere, but I’m sure some kind of payment plan could be worked out before having to resort to this.
Man, that sucks. Creative people aren’t financial people, but to freelance, they need to do both. David is still, in my opinion, the best writer Marvel has. Hope he gets more work. Also, that’s pretty scary to see the IRS going after 20 year old debt. Wow
If you go to Peter’s website you would read why he’s in this situation and it’s more than, “he should have set up a payment plan”, or “why doesn’t he just pay his own bill” in fact he actually did set up a payment plan. You’d also know that his plea was something of a last resort. Even the best of us can get into a bad financial situation, Don’t want to donate, fine, think he’s taking advantage of his fans, fine, but you don’t have to be smug a-holes about it.
I just donated some money to him. I have no problem helping out someone in need.
Why these hateful, dumb comments aren’t being removed? I feel like I incidentally happened on bleeding cool comment section.
Things are pretty tough all over, but I find it difficult to believe that during his career, Peter David hasn’t collected enough original artwork/comics to satisfy an $88k tax bill. I’d just hope that it’s a legitimate need, and not a means of trying to raise the money without parting with his collection.
I’d also agree with Will that the tone of the request seemed entitled. Especially the impatient part about some people wanting something for their money.
I know this wouldn’t answer everyone’s concerns about the matter, BUT…
I think it’s proper that if David’s going to ask fans for money, he owes it to them to explain the situation a little clearer.
Why exactly hasn’t he been able to make any payments on his due taxes since? Space Cases was about 20 years ago. Yes he couldn’t pay the amount at the outset because he had to settle his divorce bills, but what about the decades after?
He’s had various projects, screenplays, novels, staff jobs at Marvel, etc. in the intervening years. Was he just living hand to mouth the whole time? Shouldn’t he have been making enough to at least pay a portion of his tax dues over the twenty years?
If he was purely opting to delay payments to save up for the future…fine, but I think he should say so, just to be honest about it. The fans who want to donate then knowing will still do so, but they’ll also be more educated about these cases, which as people have mentioned are just too, too common, and so will definitely crop up again in their lives.
If he’s going to ask fans for help, I think he owes them to at least be a little clearer on the explanation. Whether or not they’re willing to donate on a whim, they should know the proper context, if at least for their own education about these things.
“The IRS has been understaffed for a while, but they still have time to harass someone over a 20 year old tax debt. ”
I’m sorry, but regardless of where sympathies lie, this is such a wrong statement. The IRS are understaffed…but some of the lower-paid government staff still have to do their job to make their own living. The guy assigned to David’s case, I assure you, is not the same manpower reserved for big corporations that they’ve chosen to allocate away to go after some simple comic book writer. This statement feels equally entitled.
There are so many holes in his story, and I agree with those saying he needs to be 100 percent transparent in his plea by mentioning if he has consulted or hired a tax attorney, or tried to work out a payment plan with the IRS, or filed for a deferral, or begun selling valuable pieces of his collection, or any of the other things one does when facing a massive tax debt.
He seems to accept no real responsibility for this situation, placing much of the blame on his ex-wife and the mean old IRS. And seriously, he thought the IRS forgot about this? Is he that naive, or ignorant, or stupid?
(I’d like to hear his ex-wife’s take on all this, frankly.)
The snippy tone of his offer to sign comics for fans, provided they pay all shipping and postage, is way out of line. And his “rewards program,” as he calls it, is appallingly tone deaf — to show his gratitude, he’ll post a story he had lying around? Wow, such a magnanimous act from somebody asking strangers to foot his tax bill (plus interest and penalties). “It’s the least I can do,” he said. And he’s correct, that certainly is the very least he can do.
I honestly bear the man no ill will, but this is super sketchy.
Dear Sir I am from India and a Christian educated person. But I have lost my job due to sickness. Now I am 41 years old where should I find a job. I HAVE written all Christian Charity Organizations, even MR. Bill Gates, Clinton Foundation, but nobody help me a penny. Dear Sir you can check MY PROFILE IN FACEBOOK LITE. My name is JOYDIP DAS. Staying in a rented house it’s very hard condition for me to maintain my family. Dear Sir it’s depend upon you to help me through a legal manner. I want to start a new business. Thank you.
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