5 Celebrities Convicted of Tax Evasion

No matter how famous (or infamous) you may be there, you still have to pay your fair share on tax day . Or else.

While many celebrities and other household names throughout history have attempted to dodge the taxman, they’ve found that even the limelight isn’t strong enough to shield them.

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Shirking your responsibilities to pay what you owe the government will get you in trouble, even if you’ve won an Academy Award, launched a home decor and cooking empire, or served as a notorious crime boss.

GOBankingRates looks at some of the most notable celebrities whose financial mismanagement landed them in court for tax evasion :

Al Capone

Arguably the most famous of mobsters, Al Capone got away with terrible crimes. The one crime he didn’t skate away from? Tax evasion. In a secret grand jury held on March 13, 1931, Capone was charged with tax evasion and on June 5 of that same year, he was indicted by a federal grand jury for 22 counts of income tax evasion.

After a series of highly dramatic events, including complications around a potential plea bargain and contempt of court, Capone was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.

Pete Rose

Considered one of the greats of the game, baseball superstar Pete Rose soon became as infamous for tax evasion as he was celebrated for being an all-time leader in hits in Major League Baseball.

Rose had a $500,000 debt to the IRS for filing false tax returns from 1984-1988, and again in 1998. The ballplayer had to negotiate a settlement to avoid going to prison and swapping out his baseball uniform for prison stripes.

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Nicolas Cage

Being a die-hard Nicolas Cage fan has been a challenge over the years, given that the actor went from Oscar gold to some, ahem, dingier choices in roles. Cage became a direct-to-video king to pay the IRS over $14 million for delinquent taxes, interest and penalties, along with a separate lien for unpaid property taxes.

Finding new business management helped Cage get some of his finances back on track, hopefully leading to another slew of Oscar-worthy roles.

Martha Stewart

While Martha Stewart remains the queen of the casserole, the empress of the ideal dinner table setting, even she couldn’t evade the IRS. Though her more infamous headlines involved her going to prison for insider trading – let the jokes about how to perfectly press an orange jumpsuit commence — she also had woes around back taxes totaling around $220,000.

Wesley Snipes

He may be able to take out vampires with a single roundhouse kick, but even Blade, aka Wesley Snipes, can’t drive a stake through the heart of the IRS. In 2008, the actor star was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of failing to file tax returns from 1999 to 2001, ultimately serving three years in federal prison.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 5 Celebrities Convicted of Tax Evasion