Wesley Snipes Baffled by Tax Fraud Claims

Tax Law

Posted Dec 17, 2007, 09:50 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Actor Wesley Snipes can't understand why the government filed tax fraud charges against him.

Snipes is accused of improperly claiming nearly $12 million in tax refunds. He says he was merely following the advice of tax advisers who assert the domestic income of U.S. citizens is not taxable, according to EW.Com, published by Entertainment Weekly.

''The accountants say you're entitled to a refund because of these particular rules and regulations,'' he told the publication. ''So you say all right. ... If someone tells me I'm entitled to a refund, I'll go for the refund!''

Snipes says he is baffled by the charges, since the government never gave him the claimed refunds. He also disputes the government’s allegation that he failed to file returns for six years. He suggests he is being targeted because he is famous.

''I didn't defraud the government by taking money that was not mine,” he said in the EW.com interview. “We never got it!''

A hat tip to the TaxProf Blog, written by associate dean Paul Caron of the University of Cincinnati law school.

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