Income Tax Sappy is the one-hundred-fifty-third Columbia Pictures short subject starring the Three Stooges.
Plot[]
The boys are set to do their income taxes, which are due the next day. As they do, Moe mentions how easy it is for people to cheat on their tax returns and not get caught, so the three get the idea to make fake deductions to ensure a hefty refund. Larry and Shemp come up with the further idea to make fake deductions for other peoples' tax returns and charge them for it. Larry finds this idea grand, and the three of them become "tax experts." Shortly afterward, the Stooges are enjoying a life of luxury, having made much money from profits and their own tax returns. On one particular day, they host a dinner party for one of their clients, Mr. Cash a German who obsessively strokes his beard, but as the meal commences, strange happenings and the Stooges' own incompetence anger their guest. He then removes his beard (which Larry had accidentally cut off), exposes himself as a sleeper agent for the IRS, and calls in his fellow agents to arrest the Stooges for tax fraud. With nothing left to lose, the boys make a mad dash to escape and attempt to fight off the agents but, after some intervening slapstick, the boys are now apprehended and it's off to jail for the stooges forever.
Notes[]
- The title Income Tax Sappy is a homonym for "Income Tax Happy".
- This is only one of the two shorts made in 1954 containing all new footage, the other being Shot in the Frontier.
- Both critics and fans have observed that Moe is considerably more grouchy in this short, especially in the first half.