IRS sacks Cowboys owner with $8.3 million hit

By the Associated Press (Jan. 30, 1997)

FORT WORTH - Uncle Sam wants Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones - to pay up.

The Internal Revenue Service claims Jones and his wife, Gene, owe $8.3 million in back taxes and penalties from 1992. The couple is contesting the matter in U.S. Tax Court, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday.

In a statement issued on behalf of the Jones family, a team spokesman said the dispute will have no impact on the Cowboys or Texas Stadium.

"This is a civil tax dispute with the IRS over the amount of personal income taxes due that year. They are confident that they will prevail," the statement said.

IRS spokesman Phil Beasley said Wednesday he was prohibited from commenting on any individual's tax situation.

But an IRS lawyer told the newspaper about 95 percent of tax disputes are settled before they reach a tax court judge for a ruling.

The IRS told the Joneses in October they were liable for $12.8 million in total taxes in 1992, but said they paid less than $5.9 million.

The government agency said the Joneses understated their 1992 income by $23.4 million when they listed their earnings at $19 million.

The disputed income involved the sale of 49 percent of the stock in Texas Stadium Corp. to Pro Seat Limited Partnership and dividends from Texas Stadium Corp. and its subsidiaries.

An additional $1 million in other income, depreciation or dividends is in dispute.

In an unrelated matter, Jones spent nearly $800,000 on an unsuccessful effort to get the city of Irving to pull out of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit System, The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.

Jones spearheaded the campaign for residents to withdraw from DART, arguing that the city could get its own transit system for a lot less money. He had proposed an alternate transit system and offered to pay more than $4 million of its cost for about two years.

According to finance reports filed with the Irving city secretary's office, Jones contributed the bulk of the money to the Committee for Responsible Transportation, while about $50,000 went to the Committee for the Right to Vote.