Which celebs did time for tax evasion?

April 9, 2010 by Jennifer Azara

Posted in: IRS, Lighter-side, Special Report, Tax compliance

You know their names … what you might not know is their outstanding tax liabilities. And who got tossed in the slammer over it.

Oscar winners, sports superstars and political figures: With April 15 fast approaching, we decided to offer a glimpse of how the other half lives. The half that doesn’t pay their federal and/or state taxes, that is!

Check out the ever-growing list of celebrities who think they don’t need to pay the Taxman – and who served time when they got caught.

Celebs saddled with big tax bills:

Samuel Joseph “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher: $1,200 in state income tax to Ohio

Timothy Geithner: $42,000 in back taxes and interest

David Brenner: $68,222 in unpaid taxes

Arnold Schwarzeneggar: $79,000 lien over penalties for missing W-2 filings from 2004 and 2005

Toni Braxton: owed $79, 315 in back taxes

Tom Daschel: $128,000 in back taxes

Martha Stewart: $200,000 in unpaid taxes to the state of New York

Darryl Strawberry: $430,000 in back taxes

Boris Becker: $500,000 fine for tax evasion

Stephen Baldwin: $749,974 in Federal tax from 1999-2008, plus $194,527 in back state taxes to New York

Pamela Anderson: $1,700,173 IRS lien and an additional $252,360 tax lien by the state of California

Duane “Dog” Chapman: $2 million in tax liens

Sinbad: $2.5 million in back taxes

Nicholas Cage: $6,617,550 owed to IRS, dating back to 2002

Julio Cesar Chavez: $12, 404,422.54 in taxes owed from 1993-1998

Luciano Pavarotti: $15 million in taxes and fines

Willie Nelson: $16.7 million in back taxes to IRS

Joe Francis: $33 million in back taxes

Famous folks who went to jail for tax missteps:

Richard Pryor: 10 days in jail for tax evasion in 1974

Sophia Loren: 18-day prison sentence in 1982 for tax evasion

Chuck Berry: 4 months in prison and 1,000 hours of benefits shows for unreported tour income in the 1970s

Ronald Isley: 37 months in federal prison for tax evasion and $3.1 million in back taxes

Richard Hatch: 51 months in prison for failing to pay taxes on his $1 million in Survivor winnings

Wesley Snipes: though out on bail and appealing, sentenced to three years in prison for failing to file tax returns

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Tags: April 15, Celebs, Joe the Plumber, Nicholas Cage, Oscar winners, Tax evasion, Taxman

Karen

Tisk – Tisk – Tisk ……and here I am worried about a $765 1099 form that I didn’t receive.
LINDA

Almost everyone has had some kind of run in at some point with the IRS. But let me warn you about this: Tax companies that say they can reduce your debt to the IRS by “whatever” percentage don’t tell you this: First, you have to pay the tax company about $3,000 for their help. Then, for every offer that is made to the IRS, “Offer in Compromise”, you need to submit 20% of your offer to the IRS along with filing fees-ALONG WITH YOUR OFFER. We made 3 offers. Sent almost $6000 in $$required with the submission, spent another $900 in fees, and $3000 to the tax company. Our offers were not even looked at by the IRS. They were “rejected” outright. The last offer we made was 40% (yes-almost HALF) of what we owed. We are a one income family. My husband is on Social Security Disability. We still owe the tax money, have liens and penalties assessed on our home, and after 1-1/2 years of supposed “negotiations” got told by the “Tax Professionals” that they couldn’t help us. But they didn’t return our fee. The company was FREEDOM TAX RELIEF out of California. Beware consumer. You are better off trying to work directly with the IRS and the Taypayer Advocate office.
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