Tale of two tax defendants: Snipes’ jailing delayed, Crocodile Dundee detained

The continuing tales of two actors facing tax trouble have recently taken quite different turns.

Wesley Snipes, convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return, doesn't have to go to jail yet. He was sentenced later that year to three years in federal prison, but has been free while appealing his case.

U.S. District Court Judge William Terrell Hodges has overturned an order that Snipes report to prison on Sept. 2. The new court order says that Snipes is a free man indefinitely, that is, "pending further order of the court."

Apparently feeling like they are on a roll with the stay of detainment, Snipes' attorneys this week filed paperwork seeking a new trial on the tax charges for the film star, most widely recognized for his role as vampire-turned-vampire-hunter Blade.

Paul Hogan, meanwhile, has had a less successful time of late in fighting Australian tax officials.

When the 70-year-old actor returned to his native country from Los Angeles, where he now lives, the star of the Crocodile Dundee films was essentially put under "country arrest."

Oz officials aren't letting Hogan beyond the country's borders until he pays taxes that the Australian Tax Office says he owes on $38 million Australian dollars ($34 million in U.S. currency) in undisclosed
income. The exact tax bill has not been disclosed.

Hogan's situation is the latest in his five-year legal
battle in Australian and U.S. courts over charges he used
offshore bank accounts to conceal earnings.

Related posts:

• Wesley Snipes' prison sentence upheld
• Snipes cleared of most serious tax charges, convicted of misdemeanors
  
• Crocodile Dundee to tax collectors: 'Come and get me'
  
• Celebrity tax troubles archive (Note: this item will be
  shown first; scroll down for all the alleged rich and famous tax scofflaw scoop)