The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.26 The Ridiculous #ThotAudit Tax Evasion Situation, GM's Massive Job Cut, & More...

Episode Date: November 26, 2018

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Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. I missed you guys over the Thanksgiving break, but with that said, let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is something that has been referred to as the quote-unquote Thought Audit. Over the weekend, we saw the hashtag thought audit begin to pick up on Twitter after claims that online sex workers were being reported to the IRS. This is less about how this actually started because there's been some debate there. Some saying this has been a serious issue from the beginning, you know, skimping out on taxes, that's not a joke.

Meanwhile, you have people arguing that this had actually started out as a joke but then was picked up to harass sex workers. But in general online, we've seen the movement being attributed to someone calling themselves David Woo on Facebook. And there we saw Woo link his followers to IRS pages about how to report suspected tax fraud.

And this movement seemed to focus in on people with premium Snapchat, streamers, and cam girls. And premium Snapchat, if you're not familiar, is something that's utilized by a lot of online sex workers. And basically, it's people paying for access Suspected tax fraud and this movement seemed to focus in on people with premium snapchat streamers and camgirls. The premium snapchat If you're not familiar something that's utilized by a lot of online sex workers and basically is people paying for access to a private Snapchat that's most likely going to include nude photos nude videos and it's something that's become a pretty common business practice The main point this movement spread and it was picked up by people like Roosh V Who was a pickup artist and he promoted it saying online thoughts are finding out that all income generated from their breasts and vagina is taxable Men are aggressively organizing to report all thoughts saying,

He then accused Brittany Venti of not paying taxes on $50,000 of income, which she has said is a lie. And Ruch later said, I saw this claim going around like crazy and I didn't know if it was personally true, so I looked into it, right? With the question being, can people actually receive up to 30%? And according to the IRS whistleblower page, yes, but mostly no.

As they explained, the IRS may pay awards to people who provide specific and credible information to the IRS if the information results in the collection of taxes, penalties, interest, or other amounts from the noncompliant taxpayer. But the collection of taxes, penalties, interest, or other amounts from the non-compliant taxpayer. But then adding, and this is key here, the IRS is looking for solid information, not an educated guess or unsupported speculation. We are also looking for a significant federal tax issue. This is not a program for resolving personal problems or disputes about a business relationship.

It also appears to even have a chance at 30% the case would need to involve at least two million dollars, or the individual's annual gross income be more than 200,000. And even then the whistleblower could get anywhere between 15 to 30% only after someone at the IRS weighs the information received by the informant. And additionally, there's actually another program for cases that do not meet those thresholds. And for that informants are eligible for an award

up to 15% of the disputed amount. Now with all that said, the situation blowing up, as of right now, it's unclear how many people have actually been reported to the IRS. But still, of course, we saw social media users tweeting out warnings to those who may be targeted, and some online sex workers have commented back on the movement.

We had people like Candy Curbs tweeting, "'You must not follow many cam girls "'if you think we don't pay taxes. "'March is nothing but tax filing posts "'and picks of boxes full of receipts. "'Most of us follow the rule of putting 30% "'of each check away for taxes.'" Andra Porter tweeting,

"'I pay taxes, I'm not worried.'" But for those of you who are stressing the David Woo thought audit drama, consider this. This is the form the IRS requires to report tax fraud. Do you seriously think the Thought Patrol has access to this information about you? They're just internet trolls. And further bridging the YouTube community with the sex worker community, we saw people like Lena the Plug commenting, tweeting, I just want everyone to know that I pay the fuck out of my taxes. Adding, I pay estimated taxes quarterly. Adding that it's all overseen by a bookkeeper and CPA.

Additionally, we've also seen some false information put out about when you need to report income surrounding freelance or self-employed work, so I wanna clear that up. I'm gonna put a little bit of an asterisk on this, but all income is taxable. And I'm putting an asterisk on it because, you know, the standard deduction for 2018 is 12,000,

so while you still need to file income up to that amount, it's supposed to be tax-free. Also, when you're doing your taxes, you need to report any payment over $600. However, really all income, no matter the size of the payment, is taxable. And that's something that will really matter in an audit. Also regarding this particular situation,

regular payments from Snapchat through Snapchat, that would likely not be considered a gift and instead would likely be included as income in an audit. Also, I've seen some people saying that the IRS can't track payments through things like PayPal, Venmo. They can find out about those kinds of payments. Unless you're one of these multi-billion dollar companies, you probably shouldn't fuck around with the IRS can't track payments through things like PayPal, Venmo. They can find out about those kind of payments. Unless you're one of these multi-billion dollar companies, you probably shouldn't fuck around

with the IRS. Also to my fellow content creators and specifically the people who are new or just coming up, it's all fresh and oh my god everything's amazing. In addition to following the advice from Candy Curves, putting 30% of your check away, I would also personally recommend that you pay quarterly estimated taxes. Taxes are one of the main things you see mismanaged from a lot of these young creators. Because you have these young people who go from having a job where their taxes were already taken out before they got the check, to all of a sudden they're their own boss and they're getting that same paycheck, but the taxes aren't taken out yet.

Also, we're seeing people online responding to this movement by reporting any supporters that are seen harassing people, especially since they're publicly coordinating. Many calling the people involved in this movement incels, meaning involuntarily celibate. We've also seen people from the community like Boogie2988 commenting on the issue, writing, Holy crap, there is currently a war on the internet. Incels vs. Famgirl. Basically a group of 4chaners who hate sex workers are reporting them to the IRS to get them investigated for not paying taxes. 2018, ladies and gentlemen, I want off this ride. I love you little angry forever alones. I do. I feel ya. But sex workers are not your enemy.

They are no one's enemy. They are your friends. Let them and their clients fap in peace, folks. Now as far as my personal takeaway from this entire story, one, regarding the debate of is this harassment versus people that are actually reporting tax evasion, unless for a specific sex worker, they have evidence of that person saying,

I do not report those taxes. Right, without some sort of insider information relating to that person, it seems like targeted harassment. Two, I think the situation can actually be spun into a positive because I think it's educational. I think it's very likely that there are a lot of young people who are new to this space that do not understand the tax system. So this can kind of be a shake you by the shoulders, take your shit seriously, you do not want to be the example they make kind of moment. And three, I think if anything, having all these sex workers speak up about the taxes that they pay, I think it really serves as an argument that sex work is work.

And I think it's greatly of people like Lena the Plug and others who are normalizing it, talking about they do what they do, and of course they pay taxes. There is a market demand and you have a consenting adult that is providing a service and or product. And if anything, I think there are just certain areas of sex work that need to be decriminalized and possibly legalized and regulated. So the bad parts and the exploitation that you see in these lines of work, that those are cracked down on. But all of this could be it's a whole other video. And so with this whole story, what I'd like to do is pass the question off to you.

I gave you the story, my personal takeaway, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. What do you make of whatever the hell this situation is? I love to know what you're thinking and why. Then in big business news, we should talk about General Motors. They announced that they'll be cutting 15% of their salaried workforce in North America and cutting production in five of their North American plants. And as far as the cost here, we're seeing that this will be affecting an estimated 14,000 workers,

25% of which are reportedly GM's executive staff. And GM says that this restructuring will cost between $3 to $3.8 billion, but they expect the the company to save six billion by 2020. With this news coming out this morning, it's gonna be very interesting to see what the fallout is. I mean, one, as far as General Motors is concerned, the stock price actually surged after this news. But also, two, you're talking about thousands of people that are losing their jobs. Three, you also have people pointing to the Trump administration specifically around steel tariffs, with reports coming out saying that those tariffs have cost GM at least $1 billion, and that is a continuing problem. And four, there's a question of how will this affect Trump

and the Republicans? Some of the places affected are in Trump country, and what happens with the US auto industry is something that Donald Trump has very much tied himself to as we've seen in the past. GM Korea Company announced today that it will cease production and close its gun sand plant in May of 2018 and they're gonna move back to Detroit.

You don't hear these things except for the fact that Trump became president, believe me. You wouldn't be hearing that. And according to reports, we should expect Ford to announce job cuts as well this week. So there of course is the question of will this hurt the Republicans and Donald Trump in 2020? And my response is it may,

but we're just now getting this news. 2020, while obviously every day we get closer, it's still a long ways away, but I think it's important to note how big of a deal this is. GM's job cut here is the seventh biggest cut for the automobile industry since 2001. But ultimately that is where we are right now.

We're gonna be seeing more information coming out of this soon. Personally, given his positioning, I am interested to see what the president has to say. In the past, we've seen him shame companies like Harley Davidson. Are we gonna see something similar or different? Is this going to bring back the conversation and focus around tariffs? It's going to be very interesting

And of course while I always love to pass the question off to everyone with this specific story if you or someone You know works at the plants. I'd be fascinated to know what is happening on the ground there Yeah, let me know in those comments down below. And then let's talk about this horrible news coming out of Alabama. As you may have heard, there was a shooting at a mall near Birmingham, Alabama on Thanksgiving night shortly before 10 p.m. And soon after, the Hoover Police Department announced

that they had secured the River Chase Galleria where the shooting took place and killed the gunman. We were fortunate that that Hoover officer was there where he needed to be, and we believe at this point that maybe he prevented further injuries. And police did not name the alleged gunman, but we now know they were referring to 21 year old Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. known as EJ.

And according to police, EJ had shot an 18 year old male during an altercation and wounded a 12 year old girl with a stray bullet. Both of them were hospitalized, but their conditions have not been made available. And as far as what happened when police confronted EJ, the department said in a written statement, while moving toward the shooting scene,

one of the officers encountered a suspect brandishing a pistol and shot him. But at the same time, you had witnesses and people on social media saying that the police shot an innocent man. And we saw a report saying that EJ was just one of several other shoppers who were seen with their guns drawn during this chaos. This is something you can hear people in the mall talking about while they're filming it. Obviously, I'm not gonna show the footage, but we hear this being discussed while the person is seeing and recording EJ surrounded by police. They killed that man. That man probably got gun license and everything. They just shot that man in the cold.

He walked past us when we were walking past this way. That man ain't even here. That man, they just seen that man gun and shot him. And the thing is, it's not a case of he said, she said. It turns out the witnesses and social media users were right. EJ was not the shooter. And the Hoover Police Department ended up having to issue a new statement saying, we regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate, but new evidence indicates that it was not. New evidence now suggests that while Mr. Bradford may have been involved

in some aspect of the altercation, he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim. And adding, this information indicates that there is at least one gunman still at large. And in a revised statement, they said that EJ was fatally shot while, quote, "'Fleeing a shooting scene while brandishing a handgun.'"

And understandably, this news outraged many in the community. On Saturday, we saw around 200 demonstrators marching in protest at the mall demanding answers from police. There's also a second protest scheduled for today at 6 p.m. outside the Hoover Public Safety Center. We've also seen EJ's family calling for answers

and accountability demanding that all of the footage from this incident be released. Also since right now we do not have footage of the incident, we've seen a lot of people talking about who EJ was. A statement from the family described EJ as a devoted son and brother who dedicated his life to serving his country and always doing the right thing.

EJ's Facebook page says that he was a US Army combat engineer and his family alluded to his military service in several of their statements. However, you also had an Army spokesperson saying that EJ never completed advanced individual training and did not officially serve in the Army. You also had people pointing to that Facebook page where his name on it was Lig Lach. And his latest profile picture was him crouched down seemingly holding a gun, which has been scribbled out. But also at the same time, you have people arguing that even talking about his profile picture, his name there, that that is kind of just distracting to what actually happened at the mall.

And as far as a shooting incident, the weapon in question, according to the family, he had a concealed handgun license and may have just been trying to help. And as far as the legality around that, the Galleria prohibits firearms on site, but it's unclear whether the mall has the public signs and security measures that are required for businesses to enforce a firearm ban.

And as far as the officer who pulled the trigger, according to the lawyer for the family, they say that several witnesses have come forward since the shooting to say that the officer that killed EJ didn't give any verbal commands before shooting him in the face. And as of right now, where we are, this case is currently under investigation.

The officer involved has not been named, but reportedly has been put on administrative leave until the investigation is complete. And this morning we saw the Hoover Police Department issuing another statement promising transparency, and in it they offered sympathy to the families, but also added, we can say with certainty,

Mr. Bradford brandished a gun during the seconds following the gunshots, which instantly heightened the sense of threat to approaching officers responding to the chaotic scene. Body camera video and other available video is immediately turned over to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department as part of the investigation. Now all evidence has been handed over to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to lead the investigation. Release of any video will be done as ALEA deems appropriate during the investigation." And like I said, that is ultimately where we are right now, and we have to wait to see what video, what other information comes out.

And looking at the situation, look at the reaction, I feel like outside of the local community, outside of the black community, this should be a really big deal inside of the gun community. Because when you throw out a lot of the outside noise, everything other than the shooting itself, the argument of, oh look, he has a gun in his photo,

but if maybe it was someone else, they'd be like, oh, he's just a big supporter of the Second Amendment. Based on the statements we're seeing coming from the police department, you know, revision after revision, it feels like if there was something really bad about EJ, they would have thrown him under the bus. The fact that they have gone from, we got the shooter,

it seems like he was involved, okay, he just had and was holding a gun in an open carry state. That personally leads me to believe that EJ was 100% a victim here. And if you were a supporter of the Second Amendment, if you were a supporter of concealed carry, then you should be incredibly concerned

about people getting shot because they're trying to do the good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun, right? We constantly hear that in the debate around gun control. You know, the good guy stops the bad guy, but what happens when the good guy shoots the other good guy? And understand all of this last part coming from me

is based off of the information we have now. I want to see the body camera footage. I want as much information as possible, especially because as of right now, police say the shooter's still out there. With all of that said, of course, I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts around the situation? And that's where I'm going to end today's show. Remember, if you like this video, you want to support it, just hit that like button. If you're new here, you want more of these daily videos, hit that subscribe button. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco.

You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you tomorrow.