Court Imposes $900,000 Tax Penalty on Terrence Howard After He Says Taxing Descendants of Slaves is “Immoral”

Terrence Howard has been ordered to fork over nearly $1 million in back taxes and penalties, though Howard apparently had a reason why he avoided paying his taxes. 

Last week, Philadelphia Judge John F. Murphy of the U.S. District Court approved the government’s petition for a default judgment totaling $903,115 against the actor, who did not respond to their initial court filings. They claim that the actor did not pay taxes between 2010 and 2019. The Department of Justice sued the “Empire” star in 2022, though Howard would not comply with the court case. Instead, he voiced his feelings on the case in a recorded message to the tax attorney in November 2023. Howard slammed the claim in the voicemail and argued that it was “immoral for the United States government to charge taxes to the descendants of slaves.”

“Four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it. Now you have the gall to try and prosecute and charge taxes to the descendants of a broken people that you are responsible for causing the breakage,” his first message stated, though Howard called back to finish his rant. 

In a second voicemail, he continued, “In truth, the entire United States should, by default, become the property of the descendants of slaves. But since you do not have the ability [or] the courage to do it, let’s try this in court. … We’re gonna bring you down.”

His demands for reparations seemed to fall on deaf ears. Now, he will be forced to hand over the hefty sum, though it wouldn’t be his first time battling tax issues. According to the Inquirer, state tax liens totaling $639,000 were registered against his 2,450-square-foot property in Plymouth Meeting in 2005 and 2006. These liens were later resolved, but in 2010, more issues arose when the IRS placed a massive $1.1 million lien on the property due to Howard’s failure to fulfill income tax payments for 2007 and 2008.

Unfortunately, in 2019, the State of California Franchise Tax Board issued yet another lien against Howard, asserting an outstanding amount of $144,000 dating back to 2010. Howard was also listed in 2023 by the board as one of the state’s Top 500 tax delinquents, citing an overall debt of $256,000, including back taxes, penalties, and fees.