If you live in cash-strapped California and file your taxes on-line expecting a refund, you’ll receive a short email from the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) that states that … well … you may have to wait. As a courtesy, the FTB also provides a link to a page that tells you how long your wait will be.
But more intriguing was a link a little further down the page that exposed California’s 250 largest tax scofflaws. The #1 ranking went to Winson T Lee, who owes just under $10M – When you consider California’s top marginal tax rate is 10.3%, that means Mr. Lee earned $96M, give or take a couple million. I guess if you’re going to go delinquent on your tax bill, go in style!
Further down the list were performers Sinbad and Dionne Warwick – They made the top 10 – And somewhere close to the bottom was Burt Reynolds, but those were the only names that really stuck out … except for another guy around #200 – Pablo Escobar of Huntington Beach!
You were probably wondering when I was going to get to ol’ Pablo?
Last I heard, Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord, died in 1993. While some details of his death are in dispute, it’s generally agreed he’s dead. Does the State of California not know that?
I’m guessing one of two alternatives – Either a) some part of the drug lord’s ill-gotten assets are in California financial institutions and this is California’s way of getting to them, or b) some one’s parents named some poor innocent kid Pablo Escobar not knowing about his namesake’s reputation. Talk about a double whammy, sharing a name with a drug lord (that probably puts you under the microscope every time you fly or apply for a passport) *and* being delinquent to the FTB.
So why am I even bothering? Can you figure out any better way to tie taxes and drug lords together?
