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Published Wednesday, January 19, 2005 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

OUTWIT THE IRS? Everyone in the media is having fun with the news that Richard Hatch -- the middle-aged naked gay Survivor winner, not the middle-aged clothed Battlestar Galactica star -- got caught trying to fake out the IRS on his taxes. The Smoking Gun has the court docs. Hatch reportedly will plead guilty when he goes to court next week. My question isn't about why Hatch thought he could avoid paying taxes on his million-dollar CBS winnings or his six-figure earnings from Boston radio, but about why CBS didn't already take care of that for him. Big lottery winnings usually take out the taxes before the big payout. Don't TV shows do something similar, whether it's Jeopardy, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire or Survivor? Guess not. Or is Survivor an exception? Anyone with inside knowledge, please share.