Singer and actress Lauryn Hill charged with failing to file tax returns on more than $1.6 million in income

NEWARK, N.J. – Singer and actress Lauryn Hill was charged today with willfully failing to file three years of income tax returns with the IRS, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

The Information filed today charges Hill, of South Orange, N.J., with three counts of failing to file tax returns – for calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007. She is scheduled to appear on the charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael A. Shipp on June 29, 2012.

As described in the Information, Lauryn Hill owns and operates four corporations in addition to being an entertainer: Creations Music, Inc., Boogie Tours, Inc., L.H. Productions 2001, Inc. and Studio 22, Inc. Her primary source of income is royalties from the recording and film industries. During the three years she failed to file tax returns, Hill received more than $1.6 million in income.

The counts with which Lauryn Hill is charged each carry a maximum potential penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents with IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge JoAnn S. Zuniga, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra L. Moser of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the Information are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.