Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Tinseltown names and shames tax debtors

 

Stephen Foley
Sunday 15 April 2012 17:12 EDT
Comments
The long-running tax problems of the former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson remain unresolved
The long-running tax problems of the former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson remain unresolved (AP)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

As millions of ordinary Americans raced to file their annual tax returns by tomorrow's deadline, the US authorities revealed the names of the rich and famous who have fallen behind on their payments to government – and it contains several big stars from music and acting.

The long-running tax problems of the former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson remain unresolved, it is clear from a list of the 500 Californians who owe the most in back taxes to the state.

And the singer Lionel Richie, too, is facing an embarrassing showdown with the federal government's Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which is claiming $1.13m (£713,000) in back payments and threatening to seize some of his assets to claw the money from him.

However, as the former Commodores singer is worth an estimated $200m, the revelations about his tax problems are likely to be more of a publicity headache than a financial one – particularly now that he is back at the top the US charts with an album of collaborations with country music artists.

As for Anderson, her inclusion on California's "name and shame" list again this year puts her in a class of what Tinseltown's leading newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, calls "tax deadbeats". She owes $524,241.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in