Chris Tucker Has to Pay $3.6 Million in Back Taxes After Shorting Government at His Peak

For a comedian who has been out of the spotlight recently, Chris Tucker sure found a way to rack up the bills. He reached a deal this week to pay the government $3.6 million in back taxes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That sounds like a lot until you consider that Uncle Sam was looking for $9.68 million to cover unpaid tax liabilities from 2002, 2006, 2008, and 2010. Apparently, Tucker only goofed on his taxes in even-numbered years.

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Somehow, all of this pales in comparison to Tucker’s previous deals with the Internal Revenue Service. In 2014, he settled a $14 million bill after the government placed a lien on one of his properties. It wasn’t Tucker’s fault, argued his reps — blame “poor accounting and business management.” Or even better, blame Wesley Snipes.

Apparently, Tucker's new accountants didn’t do their job much better because the government sued him in 2021 to collect back taxes on years in which he filed late. In 2010, 2011, and 2016, Tucker tried to work out payment plans that would allow him to pay off the debt over the course of a ten-year period. Those agreements never worked out because Tucker’s plan to pay back $25,000 to $50,000 a year wouldn’t have been enough to fully resolve his debt within the decade-long period that the IRS is allowed to collect taxes for a given year. 

The latest deal resolves a long run of he said/IRS said. The IRS said Tucker had plenty of cash to pay off his debts but refused to do so. Tucker reps were reportedly upset because the government kept rejecting his installment plans. 

All appears resolved for now. And maybe it’s not a coincidence that a few weeks back, Tucker announced his first stand-up comedy tour in a decade. He’s hitting 30 cities this fall — at $60 to $249 a seat (at least for his Columbus, Ohio show), this might be the cash infusion he needs to ease the pain of that $3.6 million bill. 

Hopefully it'll all be back to square one by the inevitable Rush Hour 4.