IRS Seeks to Levy House Over ‘Survivor’ Winner’s $3 Million Debt

The government says its efforts to claim unpaid taxes from the first “Survivor” winner necessarily involve levying a tax lien on a house under his sister’s name.

The Department of Justice told the District Court for the District of Rhode Island that it was justified in seeking to enforce a federal tax lien on the Newport, R.I., house of Kristen Hatch, sister of Richard Hatch. He has been in a 20-year dispute over the taxes of his winnings.

Hatch, who won $1 million in the first season of “Survivor” in 2000, didn’t pay taxes on the winnings. Hatch has argued the taxes should have been paid to Malaysia by either CBS or the show’s production company but also conceded he should have included the winnings in his tax filings.

Over the years he has contested the tax bill that debt has grown to over $3.3 million, and the government is now seeking to recoup some of the money with the tax lien on the house. The government says Kristin “holds bare legal title” to the properties and Richard “is the true and equitable owner, so the federal tax liens attach to his interests in the properties.”

The government cited a number of checks from brother to sister it says demonstrate his money helped pay for the property, and it said some of those checks were not disclosed to it during initial discovery as evidence Richard’s assets could have been used to purchase the house.

Hatch told Bloomberg he planned to file a response in short order and accused the government of “gaslighting,” “greed, arrogance,” and “gross denial (and likely intentional misrepresentation) of reality.” He argued his sister is an uninvolved and innocent party and that the government has continued to pursue a case against him on unfair grounds.

He “was specifically and repeatedly prevented by the Court from earning significant income that could have been used to pay in full any U.S. tax debts determined to be owed,” Hatch said in an email. The government “has always asserted and continues to misrepresent to the Court” that he is unwilling to pay, but he is in fact unable to pay, he said.

The IRS said it does not comment on pending litigation.

Hatch represents himself.

The case is United States v. Hatch, D.R.I., No. 1:22-cv-00332, reply to motion 8/9/24.