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IRS: Hipster Day Trader Owes $172 Million In Back Taxes
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 25, 2010
Modified Aug 25, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 25, 2010
Modified Aug 25, 2010
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Yesterday, The Smoking Gun published a federal tax lien that showed a Marcos Esparza Bofill over $172 million in back taxes from 2006. Who is Esparza Bofill? Well, TSG calls him a "hipster" as well as a former Alphabet City resident and "a garage music fan who came to New York to try his hand as a day trader" who has since returned to Barcelona. His friend told the Post, "The first thing he said to me [yesterday after learning of the tax bill] was, 'What's the IRS?'"
Another friend told TSG that Esparza Bofill left the country because the day trading didn't work out but he still wanted to come back to the States. However "He’s worried that they won’t let him in the country over this." Esparza Bofill lived with friends in a East 6th Street tenement; the Post's source adds, "It's crazy. He's a very chilled, relaxed guy. I think he's making music right now. He plays guitar and I think is doing some deejay stuff... In the end, he wasn't even making money [as a trader]. He was definitely taking a loss. He arranged to get some money from a family member and wound up borrowing money again."
It's doubtful that Esparza Bofill actually owes that amount; according to the Post, "The number was likely generated by the total amount of trades he made, instead of the profit he earned from them, one tax expert said, adding that's a typical move by the IRS when returns aren't filed."
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federal tax lien
hipster
irs
Marcus Esparza Bofill
tax lien
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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