Tax Refunds & Advice

Actor Wesley Snipes is going to be away from the big screen for quite some time. At the end of April, Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison for failing to file tax returns. Although he came up with a $5 million down payment on back taxes that he owes, the court was still unkind. In fact, he received the maximum amount of jail time requested by prosecutors. As you can see, he was not cut any slack because of his name or celebrity status. Many believe that this may have worked against Snipes as a way of showing the general public that everybody has to pay taxes.

Prosecutor Robert O’Neill said, “The courts sent a really clear message that Americans must file and pay taxes. If you have a legitimate dispute with the IRS, contact the IRS and dispute what you believe you’re due and owe. You can’t just totally fail to satisfy your legal obligation like Mr. Snipes did.”

Snipes’ trial began in January 2008 for his failure to file income tax returns between the years of 1999 and 2004. During this time, he earned approximately $38 million. To go along with this, prosecutors argued that he lied on his 1996 and 1997 returns by filling for $11 million in refunds.

Although Snipes will be spending three years in jail, this does not mean that his tax debt gets wiped out. He will still owe the IRS millions of dollars in back taxes, as well as interest and penalties.

As you can see, nobody is above the law when it comes to paying taxes. Wesley Snipes learned this lesson the hard way, and hopefully this will show Americans that filing on time is of utmost importance.