Celebrity Tax Trouble June Edition

In this edition of celebrity tax trouble, we see an estate of the late award-winning singer Whitney Houston settle with the IRS, and an actor whose rise in income created a rise in his tax liability, and a reality TV star who went to prison for tax trouble.

Whitney Houston’s Estate
The estate of the late award-winning singer and actress Whitney Houston and the IRS have reportedly reached a deal over the late singers $11.7 million tax liability. The IRS and Houston’s estate have been battling over the value of her royalties, residuals and image. The IRS claims the singer owed about $11.7 million in taxes. The deal says that Houston’s estate will pay a little over $2 million to the IRS. Houston died in 2012 and her daughter, Bobbi, was initially named the sole beneficiary of her estate until she also passed away in 2015. A trial dealing with Whitney’s estate was scheduled for February, but this recent settlement will allow the IRS and her estate to avoid court.

Nicolas Cage
In less than 20 years, Nicolas Cage made over $150 million starring in movies such as National Treasure and Gone in Sixty Seconds. Forbes has listed him as one of the highest paid actors of all time and even with all that money, Cage has found himself in a bit of tax trouble. With high income comes higher taxes, and that’s exactly what happened to the financially troubled actor. In 2008, the IRS claimed Cage owed about $1.8 million in back taxes, penalties, and interest. Cage was able to work out a deal with the IRS and only ended up having to pay for one-third of the amount.
Cage’s tax trouble could’ve ended there, but months later, he found himself in more trouble. This time the IRS wanted $6.2 million to settle the liability. The IRS accused Cage of writing off $3.3 million in personal expenses as business deductions and lying about how much money, he made on his tax return. After the federal government placed a tax lien on his real-estate holdings, he finally paid off his massive tax bill.

Abbey Lee Miller
Dance Moms Abby Lee Miller is set to be released from prison early after being in jail for almost a year. The former reality TV star was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for hiding $775,500 worth of income and bringing $120,000 in Australian currency to the U.S. without reporting it. Miller pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud, tax fraud, and money laundering charges last year after her attempts to hide money were exposed during her bankruptcy filing. Miller was expected to be released in February, but her release date was moved to June 21st. Officials say Miller is slated for release on May 25th. Along with her prison sentence, Miller was ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution. Miller has been one of the stars of Dance Moms for over six seasons along with two spin-off series.

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