Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

A parody Twitter account apparently fooled people into thinking Bill Murray was opining about how to teach kids about taxes. We rated this viral image False. A parody Twitter account apparently fooled people into thinking Bill Murray was opining about how to teach kids about taxes. We rated this viral image False.

A parody Twitter account apparently fooled people into thinking Bill Murray was opining about how to teach kids about taxes. We rated this viral image False.

Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke January 22, 2019

No, Bill Murray isn't serving up tax advice with that ice cream

Bill Murray has made cameos in a lot of unexpected places over the years. He tended bar in Austin, Texas, during the South by Southwest music festival in 2010. He crashed an engagement photo shoot in 2014. Now, he’s seemingly offering tax advice—at least according to an old viral image that’s appearing on Facebook again.

"The best way to teach your kids about taxes is by eating 30% of their ice cream," reads the text next to a picture of a young, blonde boy wailing. It’s attributed to Bill Murray, and in the corner is the logo for Turning Point USA, a conservative group that advocates for limited government and free markets.

But the quote has appeared elsewhere, on Pinterest, Goodreads and The Federalist Papers among other websites. Turning Point USA, responding to a message from PolitiFact seeking more information about the quote, noted that it is "all over the internet and has been for a long time" before directing us to CBS News’s website. There, the quote is featured in an undated photo slideshow called "Comedians’ best lines of financial wisdom."

Still, this photo was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) When the quote appeared on Reddit about a year ago, users were also suspicious.

Featured Fact-check

"Don’t think Bill Murray said this," one comment says. "It doesn’t even sound like a joke he would make," another user pointed out. Someone else tagged the post, simply: "Not Bill Murray."

We couldn’t find credible evidence that the actor opined about the IRS. Murray himself is notoriously hard-to-reach. But we did find the ice cream quote in one more place: on Twitter, where in March 2014 a Bill Murray parody account with the handle @billmurray tweeted it.

"I AM NOT BILL MURRAY," the account’s bio says. "This account is not in any way affiliated with the actor Bill Murray."

We rate this claim False.

 
Share the Facts
2
1
7
PolitiFact rating logo PolitiFact Rating:
False
Bill Murray said "The best way to teach your kids about taxes is by eating 30% of their ice cream."
Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Our Sources

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Ciara O'Rourke

No, Bill Murray isn't serving up tax advice with that ice cream

Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Sign me up