Floyd Mayweather owes the IRS money and they have made it clear that they want to be paid. However, Mayweather said that he can't pay the taxes because the assets he has are "illiquid." As a result, ESPN reported that Floyd has asked the IRS for leniency on him paying them the taxes until after his fight with Conor McGregor in August, which he said will pay him enough to give the IRS what he owes them.
Floyd Mayweather's debt
The money that Floyd Mayweather owes the IRS comes from the income he made in 2015. During that year, Mayweather had the huge fight with Manny Pacquiao and picked up around $220 million.
The tax debt on that is substantial and Floyd never paid it. As a result, the IRS has come after Floyd to collect on the debt.
In a petition filed with the Tax Court last week, Floyd Mayweather asked for leniency. According to the petition, he said that he has a lot of assets but they are illiquid and he will make actual cash to pay the IRS debt with if they will wait an extra 60 days so he can collect his payday from fighting Conor McGregor in Las Vegas.
The IRS will likely agree to this but there is a problem. According to ESPN, Floyd Mayweather will make another huge payday for the Conor McGregor fight and he will owe taxes on that as well. If he pays off his 2015 debt, which also includes penalties, the IRS might also want his 2017 taxes paid as well as a quarterly payment and not trust that his money won't disappear again when it is time to pay taxes on the McGregor fight income.
Floyd Mayweather has asked for leniency also in having the penalties for not paying his taxes on time removed. The 2015 taxes are now 15 months past due which means a 7.5 percent penalty charge on top of the originally owed taxes.
Floyd Mayweather net worth
The Floyd Mayweather net worth is $340 million as of Jan. 31 of this year according to Forbes.
That is a big reason that the IRS might not be playing around with the money he owes them. If Mayweather did earn $220 million for the Pacquiao fight, he likely owes well over $100 million to the IRS including taxes.
While the leniency request claims that his assets are illiquid, Floyd Mayweather is too flamboyant to hide behind that.
The IRS has stated that they want the money and they believe Floyd has the resources to pay them, even it means selling off some property or taking out a loan.
One example that ESPN pointed out was an interview that Floyd Mayweather did with Stephen A. Smith in 2015. In that interview, Mayweather showed Smith his Las Vegas home and seven cars that he claims are worth almost $15 million that he owns but never drives.