While larger than life in many ways, celebrities are not immune to many of the same problems we all face. We all have responsibilities and obligations to which we’d rather not attend, among the most dreaded of which includes forking over a sizable portion of one’s earnings to the Internal Revenue Service.
Teresa and Joe Giudice are two larger-than-life figures who first gained media attention when they became part of the cast of the pseudo-reality television show, the Real Housewives of New Jersey. More recently, the Giudices garnered national headlines for their ongoing legal disputes with the IRS.
Both Giudices were eventually sentenced to serve time in prison, Teresa 15 months and Joe 41 months, for criminal charges related to tax fraud, tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. The couple’s ongoing financial problems resulted in the bank starting foreclosure proceedings on their $10,679 per-month-mortgage home. While the bank recently revealed that the couple is current with the mortgage payments and the foreclosure proceeding is closed, the couple was recently dealt yet another blow by the IRS.
According to the IRS, the couple failed to pay tax bills for a total of nine years. Consequently, the IRS filed a lien on the couple’s home for $551,563. As we noted in a previous blog post, the IRS may issue a lien on a taxpayer’s personal property for failure to pay tax debts. However, a lien is only issued after a tax payer has received written notice of the amount as well as information about repayment options.
For anyone dealing with tax debt or other tax-related issues, it’s best to address such matters in a timely fashion. Sitting idly by and hoping that unpaid tax debts or criminal investigations will just go away is likely to ensure that one enjoys a fate similar to the Giudices.
Source: Bankrate.com, “N.J. ‘Real Housewives’ stars face IRS tax lien,” Kay Bell, Nov. 19, 2015
NJ.com, “IRS hits ‘Real Housewives’ stars Joe, Teresa Giudice with $551K tax lien,” Vicki Hyman, Nov. 18, 2015