Val Kilmer: It’s Batman vs. the Taxman
Who will win in a showdown between Batman and the Taxman? Action star Val Kilmer, who starred in Batman Forever, may have learned recently that his superpowers are no match for the IRS. On July 15th, authorities in Bergen County, New Jersey filed a lien against Kilmer on an address in the town of Old Tappan. The property houses an office complex inhabited by accountants, appraisers, dentists, a film production company, and other professionals. It's not clear what Kilmer's relationship is to the property, but to satisfy the debt, the actor will have to pay more than half a million dollars... $538,858 (the portion that represents interest and penalties was not revealed).
Kilmer is not a resident of New Jersey. In fact, he has owned and lived on a 6,000 acre riverfront ranch in Pecos, New Mexico for the last 20 years. The ranch was once part of a much larger ranch -- Forked Lightning -- owned by the late actress Greer Garson and her oilman husband.
Previously Sotheby's had listed an 1,800 acre portion of Kilmer's ranch for sale for the asking price of $18 million. As of April of this year the entire ranch was listed for sale for $33 million, by Orvis/Cushman & Wakefield, a Colorado real estate firm. The Wall Street Journal quoted Kilmer as saying that he wanted it to be purchased by "someone who has the time and the finances" to take care of the property.
Last May, Kilmer was busy in Detroit shooting his latest picture -- The Irishman, with Christopher Walken -- and is currently in negotiations to do a movie that is a spy spoof based on a Saturday Night Live skit. But earlier this year, he was making a different kind of headline when he expressed serious interest in running for governor of New Mexico in 2010. He paid several visits to current governor, Bill Richardson, presumably to discuss the possibility. At that time he told reporters, "I'm looking to be more active in the many concerns I have and that we all do. My kids are in high school now, and so I'm more available. I'm available to serve."
Polls conducted over the phone last spring mentioned him as a possible candidate, but since then, his zeal for campaigning seemed to have waned. At the recent White House Correspondents' dinner he told reporters he would not be running. He can still change his mind up until February 2010... but first it might be a good idea to fix his tax problems before throwing his hat into the ring.
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Even though any accounting auditor would tell you it seems like there are an awful lot of tax accountants out there, surely one-third of the country isn't made up of tax preparers, so it's rather startling news to learn that one-third of Americans like to do their taxes. Who knew?
Gail Perry, CPA
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AccountingWEB
editor@accountingweb.com
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AccountingWEB
editor@accountingweb.com
Named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting
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