# Michael J Fox couldn’t afford to pay his taxes in 1980. Somehow, he was still driving a Porsche

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/michael-j-fox-couldnt-afford-to-pay-his-taxes-in-1980-somehow-he-was-still-driving-a-porsche/
- Published: 2026-11-01T03:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-01T05:39:16+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/michael-j-fox-couldnt-afford-to-pay-his-taxes-in-1980-somehow-he-was-still-driving-a-porsche/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Fox owed the IRS $50,000 in unpaid taxes.
- He leased a Porsche to get to auditions.
- *Family Ties* helped turn his career around.

## Summary

In 1980, Michael J Fox was a struggling actor in Los Angeles who owed the US Internal Revenue Service $50,000 in unpaid taxes. He leased a Porsche on his accountant’s advice to get to auditions, while the car also helped him appear employed; the story illustrates the financial precarity behind his early career.

A cancelled series, an actors’ strike and restrictions on working outside acting left Fox short of income, and he fell behind on both the car lease and the accountant’s fees. The accountant repossessed the Porsche, and by 1982 Fox was considering returning to Canada. He then auditioned for *Family Ties* and won the role of Alex Keaton; the show’s success helped launch his stardom, alongside *Back to the Future*.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.