Tax Minute
CELEBRITY TAX CHEATS (4)
Many of the listeners to this tax minute know about rapper Nas' years long feud with rival hip hop artist Jay-Z. However, most of you probably don't know about Nas' huge problems with the IRS. The IRS filed a nearly $6.5 million lien against the hip hop star and the State of Georgia filed to collect nearly $1.1 million in back taxes. In addition, Nas' home in Georgia was foreclosed on by his mortgage company. The IRS was garnishing his income for years and any material the rapper produced under publishing companies BMI and ASCAP saw a portion of the income go to the IRS. Nas avoided jail time and to his credit has admitted his mistakes and is not challenging any of the actions taken by the IRS or the State of Georgia to collect his back taxes. In 2017 he paid the IRS $3.5 million to remove him for the "you are going to jail list" and pay his Federal debt in full. Georgia filed a lien against him in 2018 for over $300,000 in taxes. This debt was also ultimately paid and Nas is now current on all his taxes.