Country Musicians & Taxes Don’t Mix: Why David Allan Coe Owed the IRS $1 Million

The world of country music has seen its fair share of criminal activity. Surprisingly, an unexpectedly common form of criminal activity that has happened more than once in the country music business is that of tax evasion. The famed country music outlaw, Johnny Paycheck, once did it. Willie Nelson, unbeknownst to him, also did it. However, the most notable country musician to commit tax evasion was the outlaw country musician, David Allan Coe.

David Allan Coe has always been an incredibly controversial figure. Other than his taboo values, another facet of Coe’s life that makes him so controversial is his run-ins with the law. From a young age, Coe was always getting in trouble with the law. Coe even went to a reform school at the age of nine for rebellious behavior.

Regardless, one of Coe’s most notable crimes was when he was caught, charged, and convicted of tax evasion in 2016. Needless to say, Coe lived the life he preached in his songs, which is likely why he has such a rabid and steadfast cult following.

David Allan Coe’s Unpaid Back Taxes

The IRS prosecuted David Allan Coe given that he avoided paying $466,000 in back taxes, interest, and penalties. Besides simply not paying his back taxes, another interesting way Coe avoided paying Uncle Sam was by being paid in cash for all of his concerts between 2008 and 2013. Coe refused to be paid with $50 bills, as “he believed they were bad luck and would not gamble with them,” per the New York Post.

Consequently, the IRS ordered David Allan Coe to pay $980,000 as a punishment. Prior to his conviction, Coe pleaded guilty to one count of impeding and obstructing the administration of tax laws. A year later, the government convicted Coe of his felonies and sentenced him to three years’ probation in Cincinnati federal court. Concerning the conviction, Kathy Enstrom, IRS Special Agent in Charge, stated that “Mr. Coe chose to impede and obstruct the due administration of the IRS in an effort to brush aside his duty to file and pay taxes and is now a convicted felon.”

David Allan Coe’s probation ended on June 16, 2019. Since his probation ended, Coe has only graced the stage once. And as of now, he has no plans of doing it again. However, he doesn’t need to, as the man has already left behind a colorful legacy.

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