Wesley Snipes Ordered to Pay $9.5 Million to the IRS

Wesley Snipes is still in trouble with the IRS.

After taking his tax case to court, the Blade actor lost his appeal on $10 million in debt owed to the IRS, according to The Blast. This is the culmination of a tax case that has been going on for more than a decade, after Snipes was sentenced to prison for not filing his federal income tax in 2008. The debt stems from the actor avoiding tax payments in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, when his accountant and anti-tax advocate convinced him he didn’t have to pay taxes.

The actor and producer originally owed $23.5 million in debt to the IRS, but was able to reduce that insane sum to around $9.5 million. He tried offering a measly $850,000 to settle the debt, but the IRS flatly rejected it. Snipes filed an appeal, and the court sided with the IRS.

“Given the disparity between petitioner’s $842,061 OIC [offer-in-compromise] and the settlement officer’s calculation of $9,581,027 as his RCP [reasonable collection potential], as well as petitioner’s inability to credibly document his assets, the settlement officer and her manager had ample justification to reject the offer,” U.S. Tax Court Judge Kathleen Kerrigan said Thursday.

A lien was placed on the actor’s house in August 2013, after he was released from prison. Snipes claimed in court that his financial advisor took out loans and assets without his knowledge, but failed to provide enough evidence to back up the claim. The judge ruled the $9.5 million payout wouldn’t leave Snipes destitute, but if we’re to believe Celebrity Net Worth, Snipes only has about $10 million to his name. Maybe it's time for a new Blade movie?