Having unpaid taxes isn’t a situation that only affects one particular group of people. Old or young, wealthy or not, employed or unemployed, any person can wind up owing taxes to the IRS. Generally speaking, the solutions people are faced with are the same as well. Typically, people can work out a repayment plan with the government to repay taxes and get back in good standing.
However, there are some unique situations in which more creative solutions are a possibility in helping people deal with unpaid taxes. For instance, hip hop artist Nelly is facing a federal lien for taxes amounting to more than $2 million and he could be getting some much-needed help from a source the rest of us don’t necessarily have access to: fans.
According to reports, Spotify did some math and found that fans could stream Nelly’s music 402,880,500 times and that could presumably raise enough money to repay much of his back taxes. The music streaming company pays artists a fraction of a percentage from each song that is streamed on their service, so if fans start streaming his music more, Nelly will get a boost in income.
It has yet to be seen if listeners will actually increase streams of his songs; if they do, it will be interesting to see how much of an impact it actually has on the rapper’s income.
Unfortunately, this type of solution isn’t exactly realistic for people without recording contracts and legions of fans who may be willing to help. For most people, coming up with the money to repay taxes is a far more complex and individual process. Thankfully, the IRS will typically work out a reasonable, manageable repayment plan with people, but it can be a very stressful process to develop and carry out that plan.
If you owe back taxes to the IRS, you likely need all the help you can get. Even if you don’t have fans, you can work with a legal representative who can support you and help you through this difficult time.