Al Sharpton, Emma Thompson, Russell Brand: Tax Protesters, Sort Of

You have to hand it to Emma Thompson and her actor husband Greg Wise for cleverly launching a tax boycott. They earn plenty of income, but won’t pay taxes until the British government cracks down on wealthy wealthier people shielding their riches. The pair want the culprits in the HSBC tax evasion scandal in prison, and hope a mass tax boycott will get upper crust tax cheats.

More tax evasion isn’t a solution to tax evasion, according to some Brits. But Ms. Thompson and Mr. Wise seem prepared to go to prison if they have to. Actor Russell Brand also wants to skip paying taxes, and we applauds their bravery. In a post on his Twitter page, he writes, “Yes Emma Thomson [sic] and Greg Wise! In unity! Let’s stop paying our taxes and mortgages.” Brand took a page from his anti-democracy book ‘Revolution,’ urging Brits to stop paying all their bills, including mortgage payments and taxes.

Curiously, Emma Thompson is close to Prince Charles, and has said that dancing with him is better than sex. What does this have to do with Al Sharpton? Maybe nothing, except that Mr. Sharpton has tax problems of his own. Moreover, as with Emma Thompson’s proximity to Prince Charles, Rev. Sharpton has close ties to White House, despite his tax debts.

Perhaps Rev. Sharpton’s lack of tax payments may have more to do with mismanagement than with principles, but who knows? After all, when the New York Times reported that Sharpton and his for-profit business owe more than $4.5 million in unpaid taxes. At a press conference, Sharpton disputed the New York Times report, and said it was over his support of President Obama.

Although Rev. Sharpton has lead his share of protests, it isn’t clear that any of them have been about taxes. Yet his relationship with taxes has been strained for years. In tell it to the Reverend Al, the New York Post counted $4.5 million of tax liens. In that sense, a tax protest might do nicely.

CNN lists Al Sharpton fast facts, noting that the Reverend was born October 3, 1954 in Brooklyn, and was ordained as a Pentecostal minister in 1964. In 1969, he was named youth director for Operation Breadbasket by Jesse Jackson. In 1972, he was named youth director of Shirley Chisholm’s presidential campaign.

But by 1989, Sharpton faced 67 felony counts of tax evasion, larceny and fraud. He was acquitted, but plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of failure to file state income tax for 1986. In 1991, he founded the National Action Network to expose racial profiling and police brutality. In 1992, he ran in New York’s primary for the U.S. Senate, a race he lost in 1994. In 1997, he ran second in New York’s mayoral primary.