Brothels are legal in New South Wales, Australia, so officials there had no problem when Jamelie Lahood ran the Stiletto brothel for more than a decade until 2014.
A room at Stiletto, a high-end brothel in Sydney, Australia. Photo from the bordello's Instagram account.
However, Australian tax officials do take issue with the nearly $2 million ($1.5 million in U.S. currency) they say Lahood owes from her earnings as boss of the self-described "world's finest short stay boutique hotel and Sydney brothel."
The money Lahood made operating Stiletto between 2008 and 2014 placed her among the top 0.1 percent of Australians, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
And the brothel-related tax bill apparently isn't her only issue.
Millions more taxes allegedly owed: Oz media reports that the Australian Tax Office wants a total of $16 million in income tax, interest and penalties from Lahood.
There there's the more than $190,000 in unpaid land tax (the Oz cousin to U.S. property taxes) that Lahood is said to owe New South Wales government.
The Office of State Revenue reportedly has taken out caveats (known as liens here in America) to prevent Lahood from selling four of her properties, including a $3 million waterfront estate on Sydney's Yowie Bay.
Lahood has not issued any statement, either personally or through her lawyers.
The lesson, though, is clear to all taxpayers everywhere. Regardless of your business, legal or otherwise, pay your taxes. Failure to do so will probably cost you a lot more later.
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