14 DAY TRIAL // Rumor has it that the business empire that celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay struggled to build in the US is slowly collapsing, without as much as a single light at the end of the tunnel. Just recently, he had to shut down one of his biggest restaurants here, which pushed him to serious debt. Now, WENN is reporting that his problems are just about to get even more serious (story via 9WSYR).
Like many other celebrities making the big buck, Ramsay too seems to have forgotten to pay his due to the IRS. The chef owes as much as $2 million in unpaid back taxes, which could potentially land him in very hot waters, especially in a context in which he’s already indebted and not able to pay said debt off, if one is to believe ongoing rumors. According to his spokesperson, though, the $2 million debt is just one big misunderstanding.
“Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has been dealt a further blow after his company was hit with a demand for more than $2 million in unpaid taxes. US authorities have sent the British chef’s firm three outstanding tax bills in the last eight months. The most recent demand, sent last month, totaled a massive $484,500. A spokesperson for Gordon Ramsay Holdings confirms the taxes are not the reality TV star’s personal liabilities,” WENN reports.
“The rep says, ‘This relates specifically to a restaurant operation in New York which has been restructured. Conversations are in hand with US authorities to settle outstanding corporate liabilities.’ The news comes just two days after Ramsay was forced to shut down his restaurant in Cape Town last week. Ramsay has recently been hit with a series of lawsuits over allegedly unpaid bills, fueling rumors his business empire is in trouble,” the same report goes on to say.
As also noted above, Ramsay is not the only celebrity to find himself in the headlines for tax troubles. These past months, Nicolas Cage and Wesley Snipes have also had to deal with similar problems. Just days ago, it emerged that “Rush Hour” star Chris Tucker also owed an estimated $11 million in unpaid taxes going back as far as 2001.
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