Musicians Who Were Charged With Tax Evasion

Just as Benjamin Franklin famously said (via National Constitution Center), "In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes." This also goes for famous musicians as well. Yet for various reasons, after many artists have reached celebrity status, they have been charged with not paying what the law requires. For some, failing to file taxes is a form of protest against the government, while others are dealing with such complicated finances that mistakes are made, or trust is placed on the wrong people. That said, there will always be cases where celebrities are simply cheating the system.

On the other hand, there are certainly instances when musicians accused of tax evasion are completely innocent. Sometimes tax authorities attempt to find loopholes only to increase their coffers, so artists also have to stay vigilant as well to make sure they are not taken advantage of, especially when they have international careers that lead them to live in several countries throughout the year. There are too many artists that have had issues with taxes to list them all here, but below are some interesting cases both throughout history and much more recently.

Fat Joe, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, is another artist who began making rap hits, but also managed to successfully branch out into pop music as his fame increased. AllMusic says that throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the rapper ranked impressively on the Billboard charts and was nominated for Grammy Awards on more than one occasion. Yet, the artist's rise to stardom came with a price, one of which the U.S. government felt he had not paid in full.

In 2013, Fat Joe was sentenced to serve four months in prison for unfiled tax returns from 2007 to 2010. In that time, the musician earned an impressive $3.3 million, but did not pay any taxes on that income, according to the press release of the DOJ. On top of the prison sentence, he was also fined $15,000 and put under one year of supervision once released from custody.

In 1991, Willie Nelson released a somewhat controversial, yet hilarious album called "The I.R.S. Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?" to help him pay an enormous bill in back taxes. Initially, the artist owed $32 million, but that total was later decreased to $16 million, which is still quite substantial. Even though the plan may seem a bit outlandish, the musician disagreed.

In an interview with the New York Times, Nelson said, "I thought they'd be crazy not to take it. The very fact they see a way to make a lot of money real quick made them go for it. They're not interested in sitting around waiting 10 or 20 years for the money to trickle in." Valerie Thornton, an I.R.S. spokesperson, voiced agreement with that perspective when she said, "We try to work with taxpayers, not just Mr. Nelson. And if we have to come up with some creative payment plan, that's what we're going to do, because it's in everyone's best interest."

The plan was a success as Nelson managed to earn $3.6 million in sales from the album, which helped considerably in paying what he owed. Yet ultimately, the real hero for the musician was his lawyer, Jay Goldberg, who did so well at the negotiating table that he managed to lower the total Nelson owed even further down to $6 million, as per Forbes.

Singer Toni Braxton has had massive success during her career with several albums that have gone platinum. She has also won numerous Grammy Awards and nominations and is just one of a few who has received the honor in each decade across 30 years, says AllMusic. On the other hand, the artist has continued to struggle financially as well regardless of her many hits. Both in 1996 and 2010, she was forced to file for bankruptcy due to excessive debt, which included unpaid taxes, according to the Wall Street Journal. Fortunately, most of what she owed was wiped away in 2011, but her troubles did not end there.

In 2018, Braxton had two tax liens filed against her, totaling to over $450,000 from the previous year, according to court documents obtained by The Blast. The IRS, along with the State of California, also demanded that she pay what was owed as quickly as possible or else they would resort to seizing her valuables to cover the cost.

For some musicians, their celebrity status has reached such a level that their income makes it difficult to keep track of everything, especially including what is owed to Uncle Sam. Then, after recreational drugs are thrown into the mix, the task becomes even more complicated. This was the case for rapper Method Man when the tax men came to seize his SUV to cover over $50,000 in debt. At least he was honest about the cause of the mistake when he said it happened "because I got high, I forgot to pay. It was stupid" (via The Guardian).

Although he never admitted as much, a similar situation may have arisen when Method Man, whose given name is Clifford Smith, was charged with tax evasion in 2010 for failing to make his full payments to the state and federal government from 2004 to 2007. Fortunately, the error was minor for the artist, so he quickly paid the total of around $100,000 without the incident making it on his permanent record, per The Hollywood Reporter.

In 2000, one of the greatest opera singers of all time, Luciano Pavarotti, agreed to pay $12.5 million in back taxes to the Italian government. But at the same time, the renowned performer did not agree with the charges leveled against him. He told the Italian newspaper La Stampa, "I wish to emphasize that I am innocent. I have always paid my taxes wherever I have sung but the Italian state believes I have not paid enough. I do not want to be known as a tax evader." Pavarotti then added a logical reason why there could be some confusion and said, "It's very difficult to explain the life of one who travels the world and who every year visits 50 different cities" (via MTV News).

Yet, the singer remained somewhat lighthearted over the controversy and was able to joke with Italian media outlet Mak-Multimedia Adnkronos, as he said, "I feel light — in the mind and also in the pocketbook." The defiance and optimism paid off, for it was only the next year when Pavarotti was completely cleared of his charges, per the Independent. The musician was fortunate as a conviction could have meant three years behind bars.

Earl Simmons, often known by the stage name DMX, is another artist who, at the height of his career, was able to crossover into film, enjoying the massive success of hits like "Where the Hood At" and "X Gon' Give it to Ya." Yet, the rapper's skyrocket to fame was a complicated adjustment for someone who had previously only known struggle all his life. Thus, mistakes were made as DMX did not pay the required amount of taxes from 2000 to 2005, adding up to a total of $1.7 million due to the IRS, according to Reuters.

In 2018, DMX was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to one count of tax fraud. The punishment could have been much worse though at five years, but Judge Jed Rakoff felt empathy for the man and could see that he was a good person, so he doled out a considerably lighter sentence. The rapper also apologized for his actions in court, and a rare request was also approved for a portion of his popular song, "Slippin," to be played as well.

Colombian pop megastar Shakira Isabel Mebarak, often known simply as Shakira, is embroiled in one of the most extreme cases of alleged tax evasion by a musician in recent years. While Spanish officials claim she lived in the country over the limit of 183 days, the singer vehemently denies those accusations and that she owes the government €14.5 million in back taxes and penalties for income she earned from 2012 to 2014, says the New York Times.

In her mind, Shakira has been unjustly targeted as a source of wealth because there is no way she was in Spain for that long. During those years, the artist was on tour most of the time, and when she began dating Gerard Pique, she was out of the country for 240 days. Yet, she thinks that it was her relationship with the famous footballer that led them to come after her. The singer told Elle, "It is well known that the Spanish tax authorities do this often not only with celebrities like me (or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar, [Xabi] Alonso, and many more), it also happens unjustly to the regular taxpayer. It's just their style. But I'm confident that I have enough proof to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favor."

A trial has been approved by a judge near Barcelona, though the day in court has not yet been set. In the meantime, Shakira and her lawyers are building their case to prove her innocence, regardless of the severe consequence of eight years in prison that she could serve if found guilty.