Título: Ernie Kovacs
Seção: Tax evasion
Background: Ernest Edward "Ernie" Kovacs (January 23, 1919 - January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his death. Many individuals and shows, such as Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Saturday Night Live, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Jim Henson, Max Headroom, Chevy Chase, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Dave Garroway, Uncle Floyd, and many others have credited Kovacs as an influence. Chevy Chase thanked Kovacs during his acceptance speech for his Emmy award for Saturday Night Live.

Conteúdo: A frequent critic of the U.S. tax system, Kovacs owed the Internal Revenue Service several hundred thousand dollars in back taxes, due to his simple refusal to pay the bulk of them. Up to 90% of his earnings were garnished as a result. His long battles with the IRS inspired Kovacs to invest his money in a convoluted series of paper corporations in the U.S. and Canada. He would give them bizarre names, such as "The Bazooka Dooka Hicka Hocka Hookah Company". In 1961, Kovacs was served with a $75,000 lien for back taxes; that same day he bought the California Racquet Club with the apparent hope of being able to use it as a tax write-off. The property had mortgages at the time of purchase which were later paid by Edie Adams.  His tax woes also affected Kovacs's career, forcing him to take any offered work to pay his debt. This included the ABC game show Take A Good Look, appearances on variety shows such as NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, and some of his less memorable movie roles. He also filmed an unaired 1962 pilot episode for a proposed CBS series, Medicine Man (co-starring Buster Keaton, pilot episode titled "A Pony For Chris"). Kovacs's role was that of Dr. P. Crookshank, a traveling medicine salesman in the 1870s selling Mother McGreevy's Wizard Juice, also known as "man's best friend in a bottle". This was abandoned after his death, which occurred the day after filming some scenes for the pilot in Griffith Park. CBS initially intended to broadcast the 

user: was ernie kovacs convicted of tax evasion?

assistant: Kovacs owed the Internal Revenue Service several hundred thousand dollars in back taxes,

user: did he deliberately not pay his taxes?

assistant: His long battles with the IRS inspired Kovacs to invest his money in a convoluted series of paper corporations in the U.S. and Canada.

user: were the corporations illegal?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: Was he punished for the tax evasion?

assistant: Up to 90% of his earnings were garnished as a result.

user: Was he still able to maintain his career after they garnished his earnings?

assistant: the ABC game show Take A Good Look, appearances on variety shows such as NBC's The Ford Show,

user: What other tv shows did he work on?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: What else is interesting about his tax evasion?

assistant: Some of the issues regarding Kovacs's tax problems were still unresolved years after his death.