A federal judge in Philadelphia has ordered Academy Award-nominated actor Terrence Howard to pay nearly $1 million in back taxes, interest, and penalties. The ruling came after Howard allegedly made controversial remarks, arguing that it was “immoral for the United States government to charge taxes to the descendants of slaves.”

The 54-year-old star of the TV hit “Empire,” whose last known address is in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., failed to respond to a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia seeking to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes he owed. According to reports, Howard rebuffed IRS efforts to collect $578,000 in income taxes that he allegedly failed to pay between 2010 and 2019.

In a voicemail reportedly left on the phone of the case’s lead tax attorney in November 2023, Howard vehemently denied owing any taxes. He threatened to publicly shame her by posting a lawsuit against him on the internet. He argued that it was unjust for the government to levy taxes on the descendants of slaves, citing “400 years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it.”

He said, “Four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it. 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 recording cut Howard off midsentence, but he called the attorney back to finish his stance, The Inquirer reported.

“In truth, the entire United States should, by default, become the property of the descendants of slaves,” he added. “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.”

Howard never formally responded to the lawsuit. As a result, U.S. District Judge John F. Murphy granted the government’s request for a default judgment of $903,115 against the actor.

Howard is not alone in his belief that native Black Americans should be exempt from paying taxes. Advocates of reparations argue that descendants of slaves are owed compensation for the unpaid labor endured by their ancestors during centuries of slavery.

Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad believed that Black people in America should not pay federal taxes. And there were solid reasons why.

According to one of the points in the original Muslim Program in the Muhammad Speaks Newspaper, the Nation of Islam wanted “the government of the United States to exempt our people from ALL taxation as long as we are deprived of equal justice under the laws of the land.”

Terrence Howard, photo via Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/CuDYG50oJRB/?hl=en