Kanye West recently tried to spin his current financial troubles as an opportunity to learn how his businesses really work, but he may be getting more of an education than he bargained for. While Kanye himself reportedly owes $50,000,000 in back taxes to the federal government (along with $200,000 a month to his ex Kim Kardashian for child support), one of his businesses is also apparently in hot water with tax authorities in California. NBC News reports that the fashion mogul’s Yeezy brand currently owes $600,000 in back taxes to the state, which is where it’s registered and Kanye resides.
According to records reviewed by NBC News, three tax lien warnings were sent to the business in July 2021, February 2022, and this past September. Tax law experts consulted by NBC said that more than just a sign of poor bookkeeping, the ignored notices could be an indicator that the Yeezy brand is not doing well financially, despite lucrative partnerships with both Adidas and Gap. Both partnerships were dissolved earlier this year after Kanye repeatedly made antisemitic remarks, prompting Forbes to reverse his billionaire status.
Since liens are only imposed after repeated communication attempts, it has to be assumed that Kanye’s business managers and accountants dropped the ball somewhere along the line. Of course, this would seem to be in line with the slapdash way in which he appears to conduct business from the broken rollouts of his 2018 Wyoming projects to his disastrous 2020 presidential campaign. Here’s hoping that all the muck in which he’s found himself finally inspires him to go get the help he pretty clearly needs.