Celebrities Who Failed to Pay Their Taxes
Is there a memo circulating around Hollywood that says celebrities don't have to pay their taxes? If so, a countless number of them are getting a hold of it, and taking it to heart.
On Thursday, July 12, 2012, rapper Beanie Sigel was sentenced to two years in prison for failing to file federal income tax returns from 2005 to 2009. The 38-year-old, whose real name is Dwight Grant, pleaded guilty to the charge in August, 2011.
On June 29, 2012, Lauryn Hill pleaded guilty to not paying federal taxes. The amount is estimated to be around $1.5 million over a period of three years, beginning in 2005 through 2007. She faces a maximum one-year sentence on each of the three counts.
In July, 2011, rapper Ja Rule was sentenced to 28 months in prison for failure to file tax returns. He blamed his financial troubles on a combination of youthful inexperience, bad advice and an inability to manage fame and fortune.
In November, 2011, actor Westley Snipes turned himself in to a Florida prison, to begin serving a three-year sentence for failing to pay his taxes. Snipes was convicted in 2008 on three counts of "willful failure to file tax returns" from 1999 through 2001.
The above named celebrities are just a handful of some of the most recent cases. But, the list here goes on and on.
Actor Chris Tucker is another celebrity who TMZ reports has a long history of tax troubles. Earlier this year he joked during a stand up comedy show in Oakland, CA saying it was all Westley Snipe's fault for relaying a message that he didn't have to pay.
In September, 2006, R&B singer Ronald Isley was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. He was convicted in 2005 on five counts of tax evasion, and one count of willful failure to file a tax return. The 72-year-old legendary singer has since been released from prison and is said to be in good health.
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