Tax Man Cometh for Lauryn Hill

Tax Man Cometh for Lauryn Hill

Bad fashions and critically-panned performances could soon be the least of Lauryn Hill’s worries. The former Fugee, a five-time Grammy winner, has been slapped with federal charges for willful failure to file income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service.

Federal prosecutors say Hill didn’t pony up the pennies on $1.6 million she earned between 2005 and 2007. Hill also owns and operates four companies: Obverse Creations Music Incorporated, Boogie Tours Incorporated, L.H. Productions 2001 Incorporated and Studio 22 IncoBut her primary source of income seems to come from royalties.
The singer — known in some circles as L. Boogie — got her start in music as one-third of the 1990s hip-hop collective The Fugees. The group, which also featured rappers Pras and Wyclef Jean, released their lone album, The Score, in 1996. The disc is widely regarded as a hip-hop classic.
In 1998, a solo Lauryn recorded The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill — a soul-filled LP that swept the charts. But in the years after the blockbuster release, Lauryn became a bit of recluse.
Her biggest accomplishment this decade: Showing up on time for gigs while making questionable facial expressions.
Hill, a single mother of six, is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate on June 29. The three counts against Hill each carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.