Taxes are highlight of Curbstone event

By Greg Gulas

Jim Glenn spent 30 years with the IRS, 20 of them in the Youngstown office.

BOARDMAN — If you answer a knock at your door and the person is waving an open wallet with government identification, chances are that the visit you are about to receive from an Internal Revenue agent isn’t a social visit.

Deviating slightly from its weekly format, former IRS agent-area manager Jim Glenn served as the guest speaker at Monday’s weekly Curbstone Coaches meeting at the Blue Wolf Banquet Center.

Glenn both informed and entertained the group with his many tax tips and stories. He spoke candidly about fraud cases that he has investigated, adding insight into the court proceedings for which he has testified upon the conclusion of his findings.

A native of Toledo, Glenn is a no-nonsense military man who spent 51‚Ñ2 years in the U.S. Army and nearly 30 years with the IRS; the first 12 as an agent and the remainder as a field manager.

He spent 20 years in Youngstown and managed their local office for over 15 years. As a trustee-treasurer for nine non-profit corporations and director-treasurer of three profit organizations as well, he definitely knows the insand outs of tax law.

“Income tax as we know it today was developed in 1913. While some changes have been made over the years, very little has been done to that original document,” he said.

Sports memorabilia has always been a taxable item and in Glenn’s eyes, it was Arnold Palmer who took the game of golf and memorabilia sales to the next level.

“There have always been good players representing the game of golf. Guys like Bobby Jones, Gene Sartipszen, Billy Casper, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead are just a few that come to mind from the early days. In the late ’50s and early ’60s, however, the big four of Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino took the game to the next level,” Glenn said.

“It was Palmer who got everything started. He was charismatic; a people-person who promoted the game while opening it up to the public.

“The players all made hundreds of thousands of extra dollars; more money than they actually made on the tour for the year by pitching and selling shoes, balls, clubs, pants, shirts and uniforms among other items,” he said.

Failure to report memorabilia dollars and other outside income earned, in much the same manner as legendary baseball player and manager Pete Rose, is what sends up the red flag to the IRS and can get an athlete, or for that fact anyone, in trouble.

“A good management group with excellent accountants all help to keep an athlete, entertainer or even a business and their financial dealings in the proper order. Nowadays, the management firms that represent an athlete-entertainer all have tax attorneys in place so they can crunch the numbers, usually before finalizing a contract since taxes can change the contract language,” he added.

Sports figures, most notably boxers but also entertainers and businesses as well over the years, when doing business out-of-town or overseas didn’t feel the need to claim their earnings. Nothing, however, could have been farther from the truth.

It was because of that aforementioned fact and their dealings abroad in the late ’60s and early ’70s, that the Office of International Operations (OIO) was established.

“All income is taxable unless noted as excluded. In fact, Lou Lucia, a Youngstowner, is to this day regarded as one of the finest OIO agents,” Glenn noted.

Next week, Jim Pollock, track announcer at Sharon Speedway, will be guest speaker.