9 celebrities with huge tax debts

Taxes, Celebrity, Money, News, Uncategorized

Rich people might have more cash than us, but they also have more to do on the accounting front, particularly when it comes to doing their taxes. Sometimes, that means making hugely expensive mistakes with their money.

Here are some of the A-list celebrities whose financial carelessness resulted in them owing the IRS millions in back taxes:

1) Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick originally owed the government around a million dollars in back taxes. The IRS inaccurately put a tax lien on this singer for her income back in the 90’s, which was overthrown after they realized it had been an accounting error.  But rectifying that error hasn’t helped much: she’s now in serious trouble, with a tax burden north of $10 million.

2) R. Kelly

Recently slapped with a tax lien of nearly $200K, R&B singer R. Kelly, who already owed the government about nearly $5 million, was hit with another notice from the IRS in 2011. For the years 2005 to 2011, his grand total of unpaid taxes was $6.2 million.

3) Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige has problems on both the state and federal levels, with New Jersey after her for over $900K in back taxes, and the federal IRS is seeking another $3.4 million from the tax years 2009-2011.

4) Robin Thicke

Robin Thicke and then wife Paula Patton were hit with a $500,000 tax lien back in 2012. Apparently they did not know they weren’t compliant with the IRS, so once they found out they paid the agency in full. Of course, that amount pales in comparison to the $5.3 million judgement against Thicke and Pharrell Williams in their “Blurred Lines” copyright infringement case.

5) Chris Tucker

Chris Tucker, famous for his role in Rush Hour, is now rushing to the bank to try and cover his tax debts. Tucker owes the government over 12 million dollars in back taxes. In 2013, Tucker had to sell some of his properties to begin paying back his debt. In addition, Tucker owes the state of Georgia about $600,000 in unpaid taxes.

6) M.C. Hammer

As of 2015, Rapper and actor Stanley Burrell, aka M.C. Hammer owed the government about $800,000 in back taxes back on the 90’s. Hammer and his wife filed for bankruptcy and he is now filing an appeal to contest the charges the IRS had made against him.

7) Pamela Anderson

Former Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson is another star that owed the IRS about $800,000 from 2010-2012. Beginning in 2010 Anderson owed about $520,000 and in 2012 she owed another $370,000.

8) Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie was behind some of the biggest hits of the 1980s, but by 2010, the artist owed the IRS 1.1 million dollars in back taxes.  The government also hit Richie with a tax lien on his assets.

9) Lil’ Kim

Kimberly Denis Jones, also known as Lil’ Kim, may have a short stature, but she accumulated a tall stack of accrued tax debt from 2002-2009, amounting to about 1 million dollars. In 2015, the IRS went after her with a tax lien of $127K, putting her assets in jeopardy.

No matter how famous they are or how many fans they’ve earned, even these superstars cannot avoid the Internal Revenue Service, and are forced to pay their debts just like the rest of us. Short of paying the amount due in full, these celebrities—or anyone else—can seek tax resolution by setting up an IRS payment plan.

Image courtesy of news.sagacom.com