15. Taxpayers get $12,000 in tax-free earnings
Even though the personal exemption ($4,050) has been eliminated under the 2017 tax reform law, the standard deduction is $12,400 for this year, so single filers don’t pay federal tax on the first $12,400 they earned in 2019. For married couples, the deduction is $24,800.
16. Some celebrities are just like the rest of us
Even some famous people and business magnates run into serious issues when they don’t pay their own taxes. For example, the actress Pamela Anderson once had a $1.7 million lien against her for unpaid taxes.
Duane Chapman, also known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, has owed up to $2 million in unpaid taxes at a time. However, the best-known celebrity tax dodger remains Wesley Snipes, who spent three years in prison and continued to battle the IRS afterwards.
