“Money is a problem until you’ve got some.”
This adage is true for some, but not for these riches-to-rags celebrities. Whether it be gambling, bad investing, or poor spending, these people have all had to evade the taxman at least once in their lives. From boxers to actors to presidents of the United States, here are 30 celebrities who fled the IRS.
Pamela Anderson
Known as a bona fide sex symbol in the 1990s, Pamela Anderson has had a rough going of things as of late. The _Baywatch _star’s 1.1 million dollar renovation on her home forced her into bankruptcy in 2012.
Willie Nelson
16 million dollars of debt will make people do crazy things. In 1990, Willie Nelson released an album entitled _The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories. _Naturally, all proceeds from the album went to the IRS. Nelson cleared his debt by 1993. While Nelson is the only country singer on this list, he’s not the only one who resorted to touring to save his skin…
Dennis Rodman
800,000 dollars in child support proved to be too much for the former basketball star. His spending habits caught up to him, but not as badly as they did to the star of National Treasure.
Lindsay Lohan
When you’re asking Charlie Sheen for financial advice, you know you’re bad with money. Even after Lohan received a 100,000 dollar loan from Sheen, her accounts were frozen by the IRS in 2012.
Mike Tyson
“Iron Mike” earned an incredible 400 million dollars during his run as heavyweight champ, but spending habits left him 50 million dollars in debt by 2002. To pay off his dues, the boxing great toured the world giving motivational speeches about his life. Mike’s fall is a sad one, but you won’t believe what happened to the man whose ear was bitten off by Tyson…
Nicholas Cage
With over 14 million dollars of debt, Nicholas Cage has vowed to pay every cent of it back. It should be an easy task, given that the multiple mansions, yachts, and cars he owns total up to 150 million dollars.
Marvin Gaye
Widely considered to be one of the greatest singers of all time, Marvin Gaye went from rags to riches back to rags again. He filed for bankruptcy in 1979 and reportedly spent some time living out of a bread van.
Teresa Giudice
According to the IRS’s tax reports on Teresa Giudice, the glam on _The Real Housewives Of New Jersey _isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Giudice and her husband reportedly had 13.5 million dollars in debt before declaring bankruptcy. The Real Housewife lifestyle is lavish, but at least they don’t spend 10 million dollars per year to operate their home, like another celebrity on this list…
Gary Coleman
Gary Coleman’s story might be the most tragic on this list. After amassing 8 million dollars on the hit show _Different Strokes, _Coleman was betrayed by his parents when they spent all of his earnings. He filed for bankruptcy in 1999.
Michael Jackson
Neverland Ranch is expensive to run, even if you are the King of Pop. Costing an asburd 10 million dollars a year to maintain, the Ranch was eventually foreclosed by Jackson in 2007.
Brendan Fraser
Despite his insane work ethic, the star of _The Mummy _could not outwork child support payments and manager fees. His situation is bad, but it could be worse—he could have become broke because of a brain tumor, like another celebrity on this list.
Courtney Love
The death of Kurt Cobain took a real toll on Courtney Love. Forced to sell a quarter of Nirvana’s songs to pay for her debts, Love claims that certain unnamed figures in the music industry stole loads of money from her and her late husband.
Wesley Snipes
The only person to spend time in jail for tax evasion, Snipes apparently had a daunting debt over his head: 12 million dollars. The sum proved to be too much for the _Blade _star and he went to prison for three years.
Chris Tucker
Tucker went from being the highest paid actor of 2007 for _Rush Hour 3 _to being in 11 million dollars worth of debt. The star managed to save himself from jail by selling two of his private mansions. Tucker was lucky to avoid losing everything like the one-hit wonder who lost 33 million dollars because of poor spending.
Jose Canseco
Despite a lavish baseball career and best-selling book on steroids in sports, Canseco couldn’t keep up with the IRS. He filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
Evander Holyfield
While Tyson and Holyfield were fierce rivals between the ropes, they were kindred spirits in terms of finances. Holyfield owed 15 million dollars in 2008—14 to a financial firm, 200,000 to the IRS, and the rest to his children.
Mickey Rooney
In his prime, Rooney earned an amazing 12 million dollars back in the 1950s. However, it only took one short decade for it all to dwindle down to 500 dollars. This was bad, but not as bad as the _Boogie Nights _star who lost it all.
Gary Busey
After a motorcycle accident in 1988 left him with life-altering head trauma, Busey has fallen on hard times. Expensive medical bills have left him with a million dollars of debt.
Sinbad
This comedian filed for bankruptcy not once, but twice. Sinbad shouldn’t feel too down about this, though—after all, a former U.S. president did the exact same thing.
Meat Loaf
In the midst of his success as a rock’n’roll superstar in the 1980s, Meat Loaf was sued by his former songwriting partner. While the amount was never revealed, it was enough for Meat Loaf to declare bankruptcy.
Abraham Lincoln
Honest Abe filed for bankruptcy twice before his country-changing presidential campaign. Shockingly, there’s another president who outdid him by filing for bankruptcy an astounding four times.
Mark Twain
After his immense success as a writer, Twain decided to invest in an obscure invention: the Paige typesetting machine. The product turned out to be a flop and forced the literary great into bankruptcy.
Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds spent money like it was nothing in the 1970s. A divorce and a few bad movies later, he was over 10 million dollars in debt. That number is huge, but it’s nothing compared to the 25 million owed by one of the greatest boxers of all time.
Larry King
Larry King went from broke to bankable in less than a year. In 1978, King filed for bankruptcy. A few months later, he was hired onto host his legendary radio show. The rest is history.
M.C. Hammer
M.C. Hammer was on top of the world at one point, but access to over 33 million dollars can lead to some dangerous habits. After too much spending and too little earning, the one-hit wonder filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after his debt reached $13 million.
Tionne Watkins
A prominent member of the hit R&B group TLC, Watkins was forced into bankruptcy after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and sickle cell amenia. Paying for treatments left her without any money.
Floyd Mayweather
The most recent entry on this list, “Money” was charged with outstanding dues to the IRS in 2017. While he didn’t file for bankruptcy, the boxing megastar has to fork up 25 million dollars to the taxman to avoid jail time.
Loraine Bracco
1999 was a hard year for the _Sopranos _star. After a five-year custody battle for her daughter, Bracco declared bankruptcy. She was penniless—until her role in the HBO show launched her into success. However, Bracco isn’t the only HBO star to go broke…
Lena Headey
Despite being a vicious, wealthy leader on _Game Of Thrones, _Lena Headey was anything but in real life. A nasty divorce forced her to sell her Hollywood home just to stay afloat.
Donald Trump
While Trump did not declare bankruptcy personally, his corporate entities have declared bankruptcy before—a whopping four times. While his presidency is still in its infancy, Trump’s past does not bode well for America’s future.