Terrence Howard is ordered to pay nearly $1 MILLION in federal tax case... after the Empire star said it was 'immoral' to tax descendants of slaves

A judge awarded the government a default judgment against HowardHe's accused of failing to pay $578K in income taxes between 2010 and 2019Howard never appeared in court but left an angry voicemail to the lead attorney

The actor Terrence Howard was hit with a nearly $1 million judgment in a federal tax case over years worth of unpaid taxes.

He was sued by the government for failing to pay $578,000 between 2010 and 2019, and a judge in Philadelphia overseeing the case ultimately issued a default judgment in the government’s favor after Howard failed to respond to the lawsuit.

The 54-year-old Empire star is now on the hook for $903,115, a figure that adds fees and penalties to the back taxes he already owes, as first reported by Law360.

Although he reportedly didn’t defend himself in court, the government presented transcripts of voicemails he allegedly left the lead attorney representing the government in which he said it was ‘immoral’ to levy taxes against descendants of slaves.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Howard’s representatives for contact.

The actor Terrence Howard was hit with a nearly $1 million judgment in a federal tax case over years worth of unpaid taxes, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer; seen December 8 in LA

He was sued by the government for failing to pay $578,000 between 2010 and 2019, and a judge in Philadelphia overseeing the case ultimately issued a default judgment in the government’s favor after Howard failed to respond; still from Empire

The Hustle & Flow star reportedly didn’t respond to the government’s attempts to collect the back taxes he owed for more than a year, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The government launched its lawsuit against Howard over the unpaid taxes in 2022, but even then he reportedly did not respond to the suit and did not defend himself in court.

However, he was apparently aware of the tax case based on a furious voice mail he left for the government’s lead tax attorney in November of last year.

He reportedly threatened to embarrass the attorney by posting about the lawsuit online, and he claimed he owed nothing to the government, according to a transcript of the alleged call that was filed in court.

‘Four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it,’ the transcript reads. ‘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.’

The voicemail reportedly ended in the middle of his rant, but Howard called back to continue his speech.

‘In truth, the entire United States should, by default, become the property of the descendants of slaves,’ he claimed. ‘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.’

However, Howard never responded in court as threatened, and the judge entered a default judgment in the amount the government had requested after a hearing in the case.

Despite not responding in court, he left an angry voicemail to the lead government attorney complaining that she had the ‘gall to try and prosecute’ the ‘descendants of slaves’ over taxes

He said ‘the entire United States should, by default, become the property of the descendants of slaves’; seen in 2019 in Burbank

After entering the judgment, the judge reportedly asked the attorney Howard left the message with, Maria Elizabeth Ruwe, if the threats in the call could result in future criminal charges.

She told the judge that she had passed along the alleged threats to the justice department, which had opened an investigation.

‘I don’t know the results of it,’ she said.

Howard has had previous tax issues. In 2005 and 2006, state tax liens totaling $639,000 were levied against his home in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.

The liens were later settled out of court.

Then, in 2010, the IRS hit the Iron Man actor with a $1.1 million lien on the same property for failure to pay income taxes in 2007 and 2008.

California also went after the actor. In 2019, the state’s Franchise Tax Board hit Howard with a lien over $144,000 in taxes it said he owes from as far back as 2010.

His tax situation escalated that year, when federal prosecutors based in Philadelphia began a criminal investigation looking into whether Howard and his wife Mira Pak may have committed tax evasion.

The recent judgment against Howard was from a civil case, which requires only a monetary judgment, but he and his wife could potentially face more serious consequences if a tax evasion case is brought to trial.

It’s unclear if the case is still being investigated or if it has been closed, and a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office declined to comment about the case to the Inquirer.

Process servers reportedly had a difficult time finding Howard to serve him for the lawsuit, as the home listed a Plymouth Meeting appeared to be unoccupied.

Howard was hit with multiple tax liens over the years. In 2019, federal prosecutors opened a criminal tax evasion investigation against him and his wife, but it’s unknown if the investigation is ongoing or if it was closed without charges; seen in 2019 in LA

Attempts to locate him at a hotel where he was allegedly staying in Mississippi for a film shoot, as well as a residence in Chicago and two in Pennsylvania connected to his ex-wife and daughter, also failed.

A process server based in Los Angeles said in an affidavit filed in court that he heard Howard swearing in the background when he attempted to serve him at a house in La Habra, California, that is owned by his wife.

‘The woman said that Terrence Howard was home and went to get him,’ the process server said, though they claimed that she returned to reveal that the actor refused to come to the door.

However, he was finally served the lawsuit when he made a scheduled appearance at the Twin Cities Film Fest in Minnesota.