It's a "St. Valentine's Day back-tax massacre," says the Post (stretching it). On February 14th, director Martin Scorsese was reportedly hit with a back-tax bill of $2.85 million, which the IRS says he owes for taxes and related interest and penalties. And sources say the troubles may stem from Scorsese's business relationship with Ponzi-schemer Kenneth Starr. One source said, "He'd been mismanaged for a number of years when he was at Starr, and s--- started to happen. In a general sense, his finances were messed up, and this is probably one of the many things that didn't get tended to." more ›

Lehman Bros. Holding still owes the state $1.2 billion and the city $627 million in back taxes and interest, and Brooklyn Assemblyman William Colton wants to make sure we get every penny. He wrote state Tax Commissioner Jamie Woodward, asking him to fight for New York in the settlement, saying, "I would find it to be an egregious act of negligence for the state and city tax departments to not proactively collect the claims that have been filed against this entity." He said the state should collect 44 cents on the dollar, which would earn the state almost half a billion dollars. That would be half a billion down, just nine more to go! more ›

The city has filed a federal lawsuit against Nigeria over allegations that the nation's government owes the city millions in back real estate taxes. According to the suit, the African country failed to pay taxes for commercial office space and other non-tax exempt spaces in its 22-story Second Avenue building, known as the "Nigeria House," the Post reports. more ›

Earlier today, President Obama said, "We know the only way to solve the great challenges of our time is to put aside stale ideology and petty partisanship, and embrace what works," while introducing new Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg, a Republican senator. Of course, Gregg is the second nominee for that position—former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson dropped out due to a corruption probe. And, today, two other appointees—Nancy Killefer, Chief Performance Officer nominee, and former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, Health and Human Services Secretary nominee—withdrew their names from the running due to tax issues, an issue that mired Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's confirmation process in some drama. more ›

For a former Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle is pretty stupid. Even though he suspected he might have to pay $128,000 in taxes on a car and driver (which were courtesy of the equity firm he was working for) all the way back in June, Daschle never told the Obama transition team when he was selected to head the Department of Health and Human Services last November. Instead, he told them about it a few weeks ago. While Daschle is "deeply embarrassed and disappointed," you can't blame one Democratic senator's aide saying to the NY Times, "It’s totally shocking. Why do we have to continue to have the same story over and over again with these nominees?” Daschle will meet with Senate members today to discuss the matter; Politico suggests that some think Senate Finance Committee member Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), who defended back taxes-owing Timothy Geithner, is slow-rolling Daschle because, well, he doesn't like him. more ›

Yesterday, it was revealed that Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner didn't pay $34,000 in taxes between 2001 and 2004. Geithner, according to the NY Times, "huddled privately with members of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday afternoon to explain that he had now paid the back taxes and interest" (though he didn't pay most of it until last November). Now his confirmation hearings have been postponed. more ›

Previously Charles O'Byrne, an aide to Governor David Paterson, claimed he didn't pay $200,000 in income taxes between 2001 and 2005 because he was dealing with depression (and he's paid off most by now). Now, O'Byrne's lawyer says he suffered from "late-filing syndrome" that made working on his tax returns hard. more ›

A state judge has ruled that a 77-year-old Bay Ridge tax lawyer must pay back taxes after wrongfully deducting more than $300,000 for prostitutes, porn, sex toys and erotic massages. After the verdict, the defendant William Halby told the Post, "I live a solitary life. I have no social life. I needed that release." So he dutifully documented each liaison in a notebook titled "Tax Journal," in case he ever got audited. Turns out that in 2002 alone, Halby deducted $111,364 for "therapeutic sex" and massages "to relieve osteoarthritis and enhance erectile function through frequent orgasm." He argued that the write-offs were necessary medical expenses. But because "significant portions" of his sex therapy was, you know, illegal, they can't be written off. The state auditor also argued that "in addition to being illegal in New York State, these expenses are not substantiated with receipts." more ›