January 03, 2007
Fingers Fingered?
Rollie Fingers appears to owe the state of Wisconsin a good chunk of money:
The state Department of Revenue lists Roland G. Fingers as owing $1,433,609. Fingers' listed address is in Las Vegas, and the birth date in public records there matches the baseball player.
The only salary listed for Fingers at BaseballReference.com is his $1 million in 1985, for the Milwaukee Brewers. If in his four season with Milwaukee he ran up about $350 in back taxes, I can see where that might grow to $1.4 million 20 years later, although that's assuming a rather high rate of interest.
Posted by David Pinto at
01:38 PM
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I suspect Mr. Fingers had a bad habit of not reporting all his income since his playing days. Shows, merchandise, etc. He probably treated it as "off the books" yet his "employers" were forced to declare what he earned. Busted.
Just a shot in the dark...
Mr. Furious is probably right - and isn't that what landed Pete Rose in prison? And is Bonds looking at a similar scenario regarding the reporting of income from memorabilia sales?
1.4 Million in STATE tax? What is the state tax rate in Wisconsin?
I don't think you have to pay state tax on income earned outside the state.
He played 4 years in Milwakee but his income during that time was less than $5 mil. There must be a lot of interest and penalties involved.
I have a feeling he won't be attending "Old Timers" day in Milwaukee any time soon.
I know from experience that states (MI and NY, at least) have far more draconian penalties than the IRS. So it doesn't surprise me that it would add up fast.
He also may have owed income tax for games played in that state while he was on the visiting team....most states and cities try to tax visiting players too. And I agree with Mr. Furious that a large part of the bill could be from penalties.
