The deadline to file your federal tax return has come and gone. For those of you who ended up owing money, it can be a brutal time which will take a few paychecks to recover from. Even those of you who got a refund but still understand that it’s just the IRS giving you some of your money back can still have a hard time with it. This is why we thought it would be fun to list who in the United States has hated tax time so much they were willing to go to jail for it. So in no particular order, here are the top 8 most famous tax return cheats
1. Al Capone
The world’s most famous organized crime leader, aka mob boss, was suspected of murder, gambling, theft, assault, and so much more. What he actually went down for was not paying taxes on all of those ill-gotten gains, which goes to show you that you can pillage and plunder, but don’t you dare not pay your taxes.
2. Leona Helmsley
She was infamous for running a chain of real estate practices and hotels that weren’t ideal but enough to get the attention of the IRS. She famously said that only little people should pay taxes, not rich ones like herself. The fed disagreed and she was sentenced to 18 months in prison but still managed to die with $12 million, which she left to her dog.
3. O.J. Simpson
The man known as “The Juice” and recently featured in a hit FX series about him never did a day for allegedly murdering his wife (he was acquitted in criminal court, convicted in civil) but was ordered to pay $1.44 million in back taxes in 2007. We think the line to collect whatever money O.J. has is fairly long, and since he’s serving a sentence for theft, we the tax payer may end up paying for that.
4. Bernie Madoff
The man who literally made billions of dollars ($65 billion) in wealth disappear is currently serving a 105 year sentence for this crime. For someone who made so much doing so little, he didn’t pay all of his taxes on it, including $242.9 million in federal taxes from 1993 to 2007. Madoff’s former employees are also accused of not reporting income, with one hiding as much as $3.5 million.
5. Google
The corporation may be a huge giant in the search engine business and regularly does billions of dollars in profits annually. However, through the combined use of loopholes and donations to candidates that write loopholes, Google avoids paying U.S. taxes by setting up tax havens overseas, patents its products overseas, and even licenses them overseas. Although they haven’t been charged with doing anything illegal when it comes to their tax return, the Federal Trade Commission is investigating them for their practices on anti-competition.
6. Heidi Fleiss
The “Madam of Hollywood,” Fleiss was accused of running an extravagant prostitution ring for the stars of Los Angeles. Like Al Capone, she was actually prosecuted in 1996 for tax evasion that got her a three year prison sentence. She was also forced to pay an undisclosed amount and give up over $550,000 from the sale of her Beverly Hills home.
7. Richard Hatch
The reality contestant made history when he won the first season of “Survivor.” All who saw remember the underhanded way he did it, which carried over when it came to paying the taxes on his $1 million payday. Hatch alleges CBS offered to pay the taxes on his winnings but was unable to convince a court of the same and earned himself a 51 month prison sentence.
8. Washington D.C.
Okay it’s not an individual, but we were surprised to find that in a report by the National Taxpayer Advocate, this area ranked as one of the highest were voluntary tax compliance was lowest in 2013. That’s right, the place that makes the laws is one of the leading ones that break it. Other top areas of non-compliance included Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, and drumroll: Houston (we blame Enron – still)!
Houston Tax Return Help
If you live in Houston and need help with your tax return or bookkeeping in general, send us an email or give us a call at 281-894-6494.