'Taxpayer X' Pays $200 Million in Back Taxes
Talk about a bizarre. Check this out:
[A] mysterious "Taxpayer X" [in California] has just come clean about his income and handed over $200 million in unpaid taxes — almost single-handedly eliminating the revenue shortfall of the state.
The tax payment is so large that it would pay the annual budget of California’s National Guard three times over. And it will close the gap between the state’s projected and actual revenues from $250 million to $47 million. This will put the finances of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the State Governor, back on track — a New Year gift to compensate perhaps for the leg that he broke while skiing during the holidays.
Who is this astonishingly wealthy individual, who must have earned at least $2 billion to justify such a monster payment? Was it a Silicon Valley player such as Steve Jobs, of Apple Computer, or Sergey Brin, of Google; a reclusive billionaire such as David Geffen; or someone less obvious, such as Kirk Kerkorian, the corporate raider and California-based casino mogul?
A correct identification will be almost impossible. Last year, Forbes magazine’s ranking of the world’s 746 billionaires counted 91 living in California. Many others keep homes there, which could make them liable for taxation by the state Franchise Tax Board. Disclosing taxpayer records is an offence that can result in a prison sentence, so the state authorities will not answer perhaps the most intriguing question: was Taxpayer X coming clean after years of unpaid taxes, or was he (or she) simply an heir making a one-off payment on a family fortune? Gordon Getty, for example, or William Hearst III?
