Lauryn Hill was released from prison October 4 after serving a sentence that was part of a conviction for tax evasion. Hill has released a song on the same day, perhaps to commemorate the occasion.
Hill by some reports online has paid a complete amount of $970,000 in taxes owed.
Related to this are some interesting statements Hill made about a year ago:
Further, in a statement to the court, Hill said:
Now that Hill is out, hopefully she'll pay her taxes on time from now on.
Tax. That thing nobody likes. Deal with it.
Hill by some reports online has paid a complete amount of $970,000 in taxes owed.
Related to this are some interesting statements Hill made about a year ago:
For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground. I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda.
[...]
During this period of crisis, much was said about me, both slanted and inaccurate, by those who had become dependent on my creative force
[...]
As my potential to work, and therefore earn freely, was being threatened, I did whatever needed to be done in order to insulate my family from the climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism that I was surrounded by. This was absolutely critical while trying to find and establish a new and very necessary community of healthy people, and also heal and detoxify myself and my family while raising my young children.
[...]
My intention has always been to get this situation rectified. When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes. This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family.
As this, and other areas of issue are resolved and set straight, I am able to get back to doing what I should be doing, the way it should be done. This is part of that process. To those supporters who were told that I abandoned them, that is untrue. I abandoned greed, corruption, and compromise, never you, and never the artistic gifts and abilities that sustained me.
Further, in a statement to the court, Hill said:
"I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them," Hill said in court. "I had an economic system imposed on me."Yikes.
In Lauryn Land, it would seem following things are true:
- One can "abandon greed" by pocketing close to a million dollars
- Key to "withdrawing from society" is not filing a correct tax return
- Income tax is just another component of a coercive economic system that is rooted in racism
It is apparent that Hill is either terrible at explaining her actions or an incredibly paranoid person.
For all this talk about needing to "withdraw from society", one wonders how it is that we haven't heard of Thomas Pynchon getting in trouble for tax evasion. Maybe, just maybe, the IRS is not a privacy-exploding, family-destroying agent of Lucifer.
Further it is strange that income tax is nearly a universal among nations with functional governments. Modern income tax rates do not seem to have any correlation to a nation's history of slavery or lack thereof.
Truly, it is a puzzle.
But this rather strange "family defense" narrative has done Hill some favors. Hill owed the state about a million bucks and three months. Three months might not be all that bad, all things considered. Our "friends"Kent Hovind and Wesley Snipes might be a little jealous right now.
Now that Hill is out, hopefully she'll pay her taxes on time from now on.
Tax. That thing nobody likes. Deal with it.