Fame and money often go hand in hand. However, you may not realize that money issues even exist for our favorite musicians. Many musicians have committed fraud, evaded taxes, or even ran complex schemes to land themselves on our list.
Here are five musicians who have owed a tax debt:
DMX
The well-known rapper, DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, owed nearly $2 million in federal taxes. He was even arrested in 2017 for committing tax fraud.
Marc Anthony
The two-time Grammy Award-winning salsa singer Marc Anthony tangled with the IRS back in 2010 over his property taxes. He was hit with a $3.4 million federal tax charge in the state of New York. Only three years prior, in 2007, he failed to file his returns and paid nearly $2.5 million in back taxes.
Lionel Ritchie
One of our favorites was in some trouble back in 2010. He owed roughly $1.1 million to the federal government in income taxes. However, the lien was lifted a short three years later, and he has been clean ever since.
Willie Nelson
By the year 1990, Nelson owed nearly $16.7 million in unpaid back taxes. Unfortunately, he did not have the means to pay it back and had to give up many of his possessions to avoid jail time. By 1993, he had settled his debts with the IRS.
Lauryn Hill
The Grammy-winning singer served three months in jail back in 2012 after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges. After a decade of neglecting her taxes on $1.8 million of income, she racked up quite a bill. In court, she claimed she did not pay them because she did not have the means after quitting her singing career.
Whether you owe money to the IRS or you have a State tax debt, our staff of Enrolled Agents and Tax Professionals can help you! We have over 50 years of experience negotiating with the IRS in all 50 States.
Call The Tax Defense Group today!