5 Celebrities Who Have Been Jailed for Not Paying Taxes

Avoiding taxes is not confined to those who identify as middle or working class. There are many people who are or were wealthy who have attempted to avoid paying any taxes. Here is a list of five famous (or infamous) people who have been jailed for trying to avoid paying their fair share to Uncle Sam.

John Gotti

John Gotti is one of the most famous people who have ever been sent to jail because of taxes. One of the reasons he is so famous for the tax evasion arrest is because the government was trying him on major charges as a mobster. The tax issue was the only thing the government was able to prove, however, and so this issue was used to put him behind bars.

Heidi Fleiss

One of the curiosities about the case of Heidi Fleiss is that she was jailed for taxes even though her business of being a madam was an illegal one. The government has determined that no matter how you get money, legal or illegal, you must still pay taxes on your income.

Wesley Snipes

Snipes was one of the biggest actors in Hollywood and also had one of the largest tax debts during the height of his fame. Wesley owed the government around 17 million in taxes at the time. He was sentenced to three years in federal jail in 2008.

Ja Rule

Rapper Ja Rule rode the billboards in the early 2000s with his label Murder Inc., however, he was sentenced to jail in 2013 for not paying his fair share of taxes during his time in the limelight.

Lauryn Hill

Known for her soulful songs, it was a shock when Lauryn Hill was sentenced to 3 months in jail over her 1-million-dollar tax bill in 2013. In 2014, she received yet another tax bill to work out.

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