Lauryn Hill Explains Failure To File Taxes In Statement

There's a reason Lauryn Hill failed to file her taxes, whether it is a legally sound reason will be up to the courts to decide. The former Fugee released a statement on her tumblr on Friday, just a day after she was charged by the government.

"For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground," she wrote. "I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda."

Hill said that she was taken advantage of as an artist, and she withdrew from the mainstream in order to wean herself and her family from a lifestyle "that required distortion and compromise as a means for maintaining it."

Hill rid herself of people she says she couldn't trust and sought to be freed from the confines that she's seen in the commercialization of music and art. The IRS estimates that the singer has earned more than $1.6 million in income cumulatively in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and failed to file in each of those years. If found guilty, she could face up to three years in prison and a $300,000 fine.

Hill contends that her actions were a means of survival for her and her family. "Obviously, the danger I faced was not accepted as reasonable grounds for deferring my tax payments, as authorities, who despite being told all of this, still chose to pursue action against me, as opposed to finding an alternative solution," she said in the statement.

"My intention has always been to get this situation rectified. When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes," she continued. "This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family."

Hill is scheduled to appear in court on June 29.

Do you agree with Lauryn Hill's reasoning for not paying her taxes? Let us know in the comments.