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
