Derrick Salters/WENN.com

If this is true, Dame Dash is drowning in debt right now.

In a report by The New York Daily News, Dash filed papers on Tuesday saying is so deep in debt that he cannot pay his personal bills, which includes his rent in a Carmel, NY mansion where he is currently behind in rent by $100,000.

Over the past few years, Dash has lost two New York City lofts to foreclosure, his vehicle has been seized, he owes $2 million dollars in New York State taxes, an undisclosed amount in federal taxes and he says he’s facing criminal charges for non-payment of New Jersey state taxes.

Wow.

On Thursday, Dame went to court to ask the judge not to garnish his wages (whatever they are). He says that at this time, his money goes to the following (your mouth will drop):

- He pays $24,000 every three months to his ex-wife, fashion designer Rachel Roy, for child support of their two kids, and to cover money owed on the lofts.

- New York state forces Dash to send another $4,341.10 per month for support of his son, Christian.

- He paid nearly $20,000 in garnished wages in late 2012 for other debts.

- And he faces a pending $40,000 tax payment for business earnings.

Dash says in paying for all that, he is barely keeping his business afloat let alone able to pay his personal bills.

Well, we can see how that could be the case.

Dame sent a message through his attorney saying:

“I’m an independent businessman and this is what comes from business.  I have the guts to fight my battles on my own and it’s entertainment to everybody else because I’m so cool about it.”

How “cool” can you really be when you’re obviously still spending beyond your means and barely have a place to lay your head?

It sounds like someone needs to put their pride to the side and get himself together.

Lauryn Hill leaving federal court in Newark last month. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

UPDATE: Lauryn Hill has been sentenced to three months in prison and three months house arrest. Details here.

Lauryn Hill’s attorney Nathan Hochman says the Grammy-award winning singer has paid $900,000 in back taxes and penalties ahead of her sentencing for federal tax evasion, Reuters reports. Hill will be in court in Newark today to face the judge over failure to file tax returns on $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007.

Reuters says her sentence will be impacted by the amount she ultimately pays.

“Ms Hill has not only now fully paid prior to sentencing her taxes, which are part of her criminal restitution, but she has additionally fully paid her federal and state personal taxes for the entire period under examination through 2009,” Hochman said in an email.

Last month her attorney said she has arranged for loans on two pieces of real estate to cover the tax tab. He says the money didn’t come from music sales.

Hill did release a new song, “Neurotic Society,” this past week. She says it was another thing she was legally required to do, but felt strongly about the message in light of the death of Kriss Kross rapper Chris Kelly.

In a post on Tumblr a couple of weeks ago, Hill confirmed that she has a new contract with Sony Worldwide Entertainment to launch a new label and is working on new music. She added that she has been fighting a decade-long battle “for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings.”

Source: WENN

Poor Lauryn Hill. If it ain’t one thing it’s another with her — although I’m wondering when she’s going to learn that people don’t play when it comes to their money. We all know the Grammy-Award winning singer is in major trouble with the IRS, having pled guilty to tax fraud last year. Now she’s being sued for eviction by her landlord and could find herself out on the street.

According to TMZ, Lauryn’s been renting a mansion in South Orange, NJ, since 2009, but apparently stopped paying rent last month. As a result, her landlord went to court to file a legal ultimatum demanding that she pay up or get out. Apparently she still hasn’t paid, so the landlord is moving ahead with the eviction lawsuit.

Unlike Lauryn’s odd reasoning for not paying her taxes — she claimed she had received frightening threats — she likely has a somewhat decent reasoning for not paying her rent. According to TMZ, next week Lauryn will be sentenced for tax fraud and since she’s facing several years in federal prison, paying rent likely isn’t at the top of her list of priorities — if she even has the cash to pay. Still, the landlord needs his money too and it’s not the smartest move to add more money woes on top of others. Let’s just hope her babies have somewhere to stay for the time being and after if, unfortunately, she goes to prison.

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Today is April 15th Tax Day. This is an important financial day for most people. But now that you have filed your taxes, what should you do next?

1.) Understand what happened. If you ended up owing taxes, understand why. You obviously did not have enough taxes withheld throughout the year. Plan so that this does not happen again next year. Talk with your tax preparer about this and set up a plan to make sure more taxes are withheld. Also, if you received a big tax refund this year, you should plan better for next year too.

For more on this and other tips for staying organized and keeping your information safe, click through to Black Enterprise.

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Small business owners, are you trying to get your last-minute tax deductions lined up?  There may be a few items you had not considered — or even know were deductibles. MadameNoire.com has a few surprising suggestions from a tax experts.

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Visiting a tax professional is always a good way to go during tax season. But you still need to prepare, even if someone else going to be doing your taxes for you. We’ve outlined nine tips for making the most of your accountant experience. And hopefully, by following these rules, your accountant is so appreciative they work extra hard to get you the money you deserve.

A Caifornia job fair. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Many people assume that because they are unemployed and have no or very little earned income, there is no need to file a tax return. In some cases that may be correct, but in others you may actually have taxes due or be missing out on a tax refund by not filing.

With just a few weeks left until tax forms need to reach the IRS, here are some of the questions you should be asking yourself if you’re unemployed.

Who Has to File?

If you have been working odd jobs to make ends meet, the income you brought in for 2012 will be taxable only if you are under the age of 65, filing single, and made over $9,500, or married, filing jointly, and reporting over $19,500.

Income from a job is not the only source of taxable income. If you have been receiving unemployment benefits or monies from severance pay, both income streams add to your overall taxable income and should be reported for 2012.

If, from your combined income from jobs, unemployment insurance and severance pay you made below the amounts listed above, you are not required to file a tax return. Although you are not required, there may be credits you qualify for that could warrant a tax return. You don’t want to miss out by not filing!

Why You Should File a Tax Return?

There are several reasons to file a tax return this season even if you did not meet the minimum amount of taxable income.

1. Taxes were withheld from your pay. If you made less than the minimum taxable income of $9,500 filing single or $19,500 filing jointly and taxes were withheld from your paycheck, you may be entitled to a tax refund.
2. Student credits could apply. If you are a college student there are credits like the American Opportunity Credit that will give you up to a $2,500 for the first four years of post-secondary school.
3. Other credits may work in your favor. There are other credits for those who did not earn a lot of money for 2012 like the Earned Income Tax Credit, Making Work Pay credit and the Additional Child Tax credit, which all could result in a refund for the 2012 tax season.
4. You may be eligible for job search deductions. You may be able to deduct expenses related to your job search, which will decrease your tax liability and could increase your refund.

Where Do I Get Tax Help?

This is in no way a comprehensive list of taxable situations or benefits for filing taxes, so make sure you consult with a tax professional to ensure you’re on the right track with your taxes. Here are some resources to help you get tax advice:

IRS Fresh Start: Helps struggling tax payers to avoid penalties and make installment agreements more available.

Volunteer Income tax Assistance: Provides free tax preparation to those who earn less than $51,000 and need assistance preparing tax returns.

IRS2GO Mobile app: With this smart phone app users can access video, gen news and updates, request tax account transcripts and check their tax refund status.

Follow CAP on Twitter: @in_allcaps

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When you work for yourself, you must take extra care when preparing the taxes. And, there are more and more freelance workers in today’s workforce.  In fact, according to the advocacy group Freelancers’ Union, one-third of the workforce can be considered independent–self-employed, contractors, consultants, temps and sole proprietors. Preparing taxes for freelancers can a bit more complicated.

Here are nine tips on how to do federal taxes better for freelancers.

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Tax season is generally a time that no one looks forward to. But the sooner you get them done, the sooner you can breathe a sigh of relief and wait for your tax return check to roll in. But before you dive into handling your tax return yourself, MSN notes that you should first ask yourself these three questions:

1) Do you have the time to do your taxes? The IRS estimates it takes about 22 hours for a simple return.

2) Can you afford to hire someone to do your taxes?

3) If not, are you ready to handle the difficulties of understanding the complex federal code? Electronic filing has made this easier, but there are still some things you’ll need to figure out.

If you’ve come to the conclusion that filing your own taxes is still the way to go for you, then take our 10 tips for doing your own taxes… successfully.

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Everyone’s looking for the best possible refund from their taxes this season, and the best service to use to get the most money back. With an average of $3000 as the tax refund for most filers in 2012, Americans are looking for better and faster ways to maximize refunds in 2013, with many filers looking online for preparation resources.

If you are still looking for tax preparation resources, an e-filing service or a reliable tax calculator to help you out this season, do your research on these nine online tax preparation services.