Don't Mess With Taxes

Speaking of high-net-worth individuals who have fallen from that category, add actor Stephen Baldwin to the list. He and his wife have filed for bankruptcy, brought about in large part by unpaid state and federal taxes.   

One of the -- you pick you adjective: famed, infamous, acclaimed, despised -- Baldwin brothers, Stephen's best role was as Michael McManus in the 1994 flick The Usual Suspects.

IMDB.com describes the character as "a crack shot with a temper and a wild streak." Perhaps Baldwin nailed the role because it wasn't a stretch.

Youthful escapades got him kicked out of college; he later battled drug abuse.

And he sure shot off his mouth back in May on Fox News, with comments about the president that some viewed as wildly inappropriate.

Now he faces a major financial challenge.

Papers filed in New York federal court show that Baldwin:

• Owes $1.2 million in two mortgages on a New York City-area property valued at $1.1 million,

• Is $70,000 in credit card debt, and

• Owes more than $1 million in taxes.

The tax troubles involve both the IRS and New York state collectors.

Uncle Sam is owed the most: $749,974. That amount is from unpaid taxes as far back as 1999. There's another $139,288 due for unpaid withholding taxes.

Baldwin's overdue state income tax bill is $194,527.

You can read more on the Baldwin bankruptcy and tax trouble from the usual media suspects:

• WebCPA

• Reuters

• Sky News

• CBC

• Wall Street Journal

• The Huffington Post

• MSN News

• TMZ