IRS Takes on Action Star Snipes in Court

Action movie star Wesley Snipes tomorrow faces his toughest opponent yet: the IRS in a Florida court. Snipes could face up to 16 years in prison if he's convicted of failing to report the $37.9 million he earned between 1999 and 2004, and filing for $11.3 million in allegedly fraudulent refunds for earlier taxes. Snipes' attorney insisted it wasn't fraudulent; it was just Snipes' way of asking the IRS a question.

Charged with Snipes are two tax protesters who ran an aggressive tax accounting firm that later claimed to be a tax-free nonprofit church. They had argued that the federal government only has a right to tax income generated in other countries. Snipes turned to them after his normal accounting firm dropped him, telling him that he had to pay taxes, Reuters reports.