Lauren Hill's tax evasion reason

[JamesVincent]

Maybe Wesley Snipes can give her pointers.

[Famspear]

Nathan Hochman is her attorney. Heavy duty legal representation.

[Famspear]

United States v. Lauryn N. Hill
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
case no. 12-6081

Information filed on June 7, 2012. The United States Attorney charges that Lauryn Hill willfully failed to file federal income tax returns as follows:

Year 2005
over $818,000 in gross income

Year 2006
over $222,000 in gross income

Year 2007
over $761,000 in gross income

all in violation of IRC section 7203 (misdemeanor).

[Quixote]

Yes, it seems Ms. Lauryn Hill, member of the Fugees (slang term for refugee) got popped by the IRS for willfully not paying taxes on $1.6 million earned over a three year period. It is just in the beginning stages (charges filed), but it will be interesting to see how she got to this point and how she extricates herself from it.

http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/entertainme ... ax-charges

She's a busy person. First she had to make the money; then she had to spend it. Then she had to spend all that time explaining to morons that she, a professional singer, has never objected to anyone buying her music. She just forgot to pay taxes.

You.. can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You say.. "Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?" First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You.. have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!"

Steve Martin, SNL, season 3, episode 9.

[Demosthenes]

Ms. Hill's explanation for evading taxes posted on her Tumblr page:

For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground. I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda. Having put the lives and needs of other people before my own for multiple years, and having made hundreds of millions of dollars for certain institutions, under complex and sometimes severe circumstances, I began to require growth and more equitable treatment, but was met with resistance. I entered into my craft full of optimism (which I still possess), but immediately saw the suppressive force with which the system attempts to maintain it’s control over a given paradigm. I’ve seen people promote addiction, use sabotage, black listing, media bullying and any other coercion technique they could, to prevent artists from knowing their true value, or exercising their full power. These devices of control, no matter how well intentioned (or not), can have a devastating outcome on the lives of people, especially creative types who must grow and exist within a certain environment and according to a certain pace, in order to live and create optimally.

[JamesVincent]

Ms. Hill's explanation for evading taxes posted on her Tumblr page:

For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground. I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda. Having put the lives and needs of other people before my own for multiple years, and having made hundreds of millions of dollars for certain institutions, under complex and sometimes severe circumstances, I began to require growth and more equitable treatment, but was met with resistance. I entered into my craft full of optimism (which I still possess), but immediately saw the suppressive force with which the system attempts to maintain it’s control over a given paradigm. I’ve seen people promote addiction, use sabotage, black listing, media bullying and any other coercion technique they could, to prevent artists from knowing their true value, or exercising their full power. These devices of control, no matter how well intentioned (or not), can have a devastating outcome on the lives of people, especially creative types who must grow and exist within a certain environment and according to a certain pace, in order to live and create optimally.

So...... Taxes impeded her growth as an artist? Im confused.

[Kestrel]

So...... Taxes impeded her growth as an artist? Im confused.

The ebil goobermint stressed her out. Her free creative spirit was negatively impacted.

Funny. So many other artists did their best work when under high stress: Van Gogh, Poe, Hemingway, Michaelangelo...

[Famspear]

For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground.

Translation: For the past several years, I did not file federal income tax returns.

I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda.

Translation: I have tried to rationalize my behavior by mischaracterizing my base motives as being a pristine and uplifting, unselfish attempt to help others.

Having put the lives and needs of other people before my own for multiple years, and having made hundreds of millions of dollars for certain institutions, under complex and sometimes severe circumstances, I began to require growth and more equitable treatment, but was met with resistance.

Translation: The big media companies with which I had contracts did not agree to my demands for a bigger slice of the benefits resulting from my creativity as a performer.

I entered into my craft full of optimism (which I still possess), but immediately saw the suppressive force with which the system attempts to maintain it’s [sic] control over a given paradigm.

Translation: The big bad media companies resisted my demands for a bigger slice of the pie. I am still an optimist, though, and I'm getting to use cool words like "paradigm."

I’ve seen people promote addiction, use sabotage, black listing, media bullying and any other coercion technique they could, to prevent artists from knowing their true value, or exercising their full power.

Translation: The big bad media companies tried lots of bad things to keep me from getting what I feel is my share of the benefits resulting from my performances. I think I'm starting to repeat myself.

These devices of control, no matter how well intentioned (or not), can have a devastating outcome on the lives of people, especially creative types who must grow and exist within a certain environment and according to a certain pace, in order to live and create optimally.

Translation: To be happy, I needed a lot more money, and my inability to get the big bad media companies to agree was devastating to me.

[Doktor Avalanche]

United States v. Lauryn N. Hill
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
case no. 12-6081

Information filed on June 7, 2012. The United States Attorney charges that Lauryn Hill willfully failed to file federal income tax returns as follows:

Year 2005
over $818,000 in gross income

Year 2006
over $222,000 in gross income

Year 2007
over $761,000 in gross income

all in violation of IRC section 7203 (misdemeanor).

Wow! She still kicks down those kind of royalties?

[jcolvin2]

Ms. Hill's explanation for evading taxes posted on her Tumblr page:

For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground. I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda. Having put the lives and needs of other people before my own for multiple years, and having made hundreds of millions of dollars for certain institutions, under complex and sometimes severe circumstances, I began to require growth and more equitable treatment, but was met with resistance. I entered into my craft full of optimism (which I still possess), but immediately saw the suppressive force with which the system attempts to maintain it’s control over a given paradigm. I’ve seen people promote addiction, use sabotage, black listing, media bullying and any other coercion technique they could, to prevent artists from knowing their true value, or exercising their full power. These devices of control, no matter how well intentioned (or not), can have a devastating outcome on the lives of people, especially creative types who must grow and exist within a certain environment and according to a certain pace, in order to live and create optimally.

Lauryn Hill was clearly miseducated.

[Burnaby49]

A further statement. I have no idea what she is talking about apart from her position that the IRS is being unreasonable in not just accepting her vague comments about the "dangers" she faced, dangers that she is careful not to explain in detail. Probably because they would amount to "I took some time off";

Hill says in her Tumblr statement that her intention "has always been to get this situation rectified,” the 37-year-old New Jersey native wrote about her tax situation. She explained that she “left a more mainstream and public life, in order to wean both myself, and my family, away from a lifestyle that required distortion and compromise as a means for maintaining it.”

“When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes,” the former Fugees star wrote. “This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family.”

"I conveyed all of this when questioned as to why I did not file taxes during this time period. Obviously, the danger I faced was not accepted as reasonable grounds for deferring my tax payments, as authorities, who despite being told all of this, still chose to pursue action against me, as opposed to finding an alternative solution."

"I did not deliberately abandon my fans, nor did I deliberately abandon any responsibilities, but I did however put my safety, health and freedom and the freedom, safety and health of my family first over all other material concerns! I also embraced my right to resist a system intentionally opposing my right to whole and integral survival," she continued.

[JamesVincent]

"I couldnt figure out how to do my taxes while in hiding even though I was on the internet every single day helping all of my peoples" is more the likely. "Even though I managed to receive and cash my royalty checks I was not able to file my taxes because the hitmen would have killed me and my family" is about what I get out of that. Oh, and "The ebil gubmint dont want to listen to how my life was in danger and someone would have killed me and my family if I had paid my taxes".

[Burnaby49]

"I couldnt figure out how to do my taxes while in hiding even though I was on the internet every single day helping all of my peoples" is more the likely. "Even though I managed to receive and cash my royalty checks I was not able to file my taxes because the hitmen would have killed me and my family" is about what I get out of that. Oh, and "The ebil gubmint dont want to listen to how my life was in danger and someone would have killed me and my family if I had paid my taxes".

Actually she is very vague about the so-called danger she was in. She has not said she was in any physical danger, just meaningless comments like "wean both myself, and my family, away from a lifestyle that required distortion and compromise as a means for maintaining it", "it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family" and "I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda."

I'm guessing that she only went underground to the extent she just stopped answering her mail and the phone and took it easy out of public attention. Nothing yet to indicate she was hiding out in a cabin in Montana without any communication with the outside world. I assume the IRS didn't cut a deal with her because they got only meaningless drivel like this rather than a justifiable reason for the failed filings.

[Demosthenes]

Now that she's lawyered up with Nathan Hochman, we may never know.

[Burnaby49]

So, is she a tax protestor or not?

I'd say no, just didn't want to pay, but impossible to tell from her vague comments. Maybe her rant about the military industrial complex is based on a sincere belief or maybe it's just a smoke-screen.

[The Observer]

Now that she's lawyered up with Nathan Hochman, we may never know.

Yup. Hochman won't be letting her go down Kool-ade Lane, even if she had tiptoed down it previously. But up to this point, there is nothing to indicate that she ever used TP rhetoric or filed frivolous returns or statement in defending her not paying taxes.

Look, most celebrities don't approach the issue of taxes vs. their wealth when they suddenly hit it big. Before, when they were starving artists, they probably didn't even have to file returns due to the low level of income they had. Then, when they hit it big, the stunning fact that they now will have to pay millions of dollars in taxes is a factor in starting to change their view of the tax system. And at that point, most elect to either not file returns or just not pay the bills. Very, very rarely, do they seek to look to the TP way of life to beat the system.

Hill isn't the first celebrity to have unpaid tax issues and she won't be the last. But I'm not seeing anything that screams, "FrivPen" here.

[Gregg]

I was just gonna say 'Willie Nelson Syndrome" but on reflection I think he actually paid people to take care of it for him and they didn't do such a good job. Personally I think some celebrities just think it's not a big deal and maybe it'll go away. Just plain dumb isn't the same as TP.

[The Observer]

And at that point, most elect to either not file returns or just not pay the bills.

I should clarify what I meant by "most." I was referring to those celebrities who decide to not resolve their tax issues, not that most celebs don't pay their taxes.

[Gregg]

I had so assumed.

What I'm thinking about is the recent grad who gets the first job and is SHOCKED that they actaully have to pay taxes and won't get most or all of it back next April. I think a lot of celebrities go through the same thing.

[Demosthenes]

Hill's big money years happened long before she became a tax cheat, and she paid taxes on that big money.

She went kind of bat shit crazy in the mid 2000s. She has six kids and lives with her mom in New Jersey.