Lionel Richie, Pamela Anderson: tax delinquents
Lionel Richie reportedly owes $1.1 million and has a lien against his assets. But some well-known Californians owe even bigger tax delinquents.
Lionel Richie (right) and Jennifer Nettles perform "Hello" at ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends in Concert earlier this month. Mr. Richie reportedly owes $1.1 million in unpaid taxes and is one of the top 500 tax delinquents in California.
Jeff Bottari/AP/File
LOS ANGELES
Pamela Anderson and Lionel Richie owe the government money.
California tax authorities said Anderson owes $524,241 in personal income taxes. The Franchise Tax Board included the "Baywatch" star on a list of the state's 500 biggest income-tax delinquents posted Friday.
Meanwhile, E! Online reports (http://eonli.ne/HDd0EP) that Richie owes the federal government $1.1 million in unpaid taxes and that a lien has been issued warning that the singers' assets may be seized if he doesn't pay up in a timely manner.
A message seeking comments from Richie's publicist wasn't immediately returned Saturday. A call to Anderson's tax attorney, Robert Leonard, wasn't immediately returned.
California law requires tax authorities to update and publish the names and amounts owed by the state's 500 biggest tax scofflaws twice a year.
"When taxpayers do not pay their fair share, it places an unfair burden on those who do," the tax board said on its website, which said the 500 owe the state nearly $233 million.
Other notable names on California's tax-delinquent list include CNET co-founder Halsey Minor, Joe Francis, the founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire, actor Nick Cassavetes and boxer James Toney.
Minor and his wife, Shannon, are on top of the list for owing the state $10.5 million in personal income taxes.
Francis owes $794,000, Cassavetes, the son of filmmaker John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands, owes $273,000 while Toney owes $354,000.