Wesley Snipes loses battle with IRS; ‘Blade’ ordered to pay $9.5M in back taxes

Wesley Snipes may have defeated vampires in his successful “Blade” franchise, but his battle with the IRS has ended in failure.

Tax woes that have haunted the actor for years came to a head this week when tax court Judge Kathleen Kerrigan ordered him to pay $9.5 million in back taxes. The decision was based on his inability to prove that he lacked assets due to misconduct by a financial adviser.

Mr. Snipes, who received a three-year prison sentence in 2008 for willfully failing to file tax returns, was originally ordered to pay the federal government $23.5 million. He responded by filing an offer-in-compromise (OIC) for $850,000, which was rejected due to the value of his real estate holdings and other assets.

“Given the disparity between petitioner’s $842,061 OIC and the settlement officer’s calculation of $9,581,027 as his RCP, as well as petitioner’s inability to credibly document his assets, the settlement officer and her manager had ample justification to reject the offer,” the judge wrote in her opinion, The Hollywood Reporter noted Thursday. “Accordingly, we conclude that the settlement officer did not abuse her discretion in determining that acceptance of petitioner’s OIC was not in the best interest of the United States.”