Money Matters: IRS Investigates Gospel Singer Yolanda Adams

By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com

Top-selling gospel singer Yolanda Adams joins the ranks of top mega-church preachers Bishop Eddie Long, Benny Hinn, Dr. Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyers, Kenneth Copeland and Pastors Paula and Randy White, all of which have come under question about their financial operations.

While the TV evangelists were targeted in a wide-ranging inquiry that's still ongoing and led by Senator Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee; Adams is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service.

The Houston-based singer, according to the Houston Chronicle, is coming under fire by the IRS after allegedly failing to appear for an appointment with the tax agency to explain her financial affairs last month. The IRS is supposedly attempting to determine Adams' tax liability and how to collect on the debt.

According to reporter Cindy George, filings in Houston federal court show that the IRS probe stems from two million-dollar mortgage loan applications.

A 2005 Ocwen application said Adams earned $40,000 a month and listed $8 million in assets - including an $800,000 trust account, $4.9 million in other personal holdings and jewelry worth $1.5 million. That document said she owned a Lexus and a Hummer.

A subsequent Chase home loan application listed $3 million in assets, including a business worth $1.5 million, a Mercedes-Benz and a Range Rover. She owns a home worth more than $2 million in Houston's Royal Oaks Country Club subdivision.

Additionally, the IRS also wants specific information about the 46-year-old singer's endorsements and royalties, as well as music companies and foundations with whom she is affiliated.

Adams is represented by Houston entertainment lawyer Ricky Anderson, who said Wednesday that he was unaware of the lawsuit and declined to comment until he could look at the IRS filings and reach Adams, who was available because she is in the Caribbean on Radio One's 'One Love Gospel Cruise.'

Yolanda Adams singing The Houston Chronicle reports that in court documents filed Tuesday, a revenue officer who works cases involving small businesses and the self-employed is looking into Adams' taxes for 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004.

In January, the agency issued a summons that required Adams, 46, to bring financial documents for the last six years to Houston 's IRS office and answer questions. The IRS scheduled Adams to appear at 9 a.m. on Feb. 5, but she was still on the radio doing her syndicated radio show, 'Yolanda Adams Morning Show.'

The federal government has asked a judge to order Adams to appear with "records, papers or documents" or explain why she should not be forced to comply with the summons.

Adams is a multiple Grammy winner who has released eleven original albums.

The Columbia Records singer was once married to NFL player Tim Crawford. They divorced in 2004. The couple has a daughter, Taylor Ayanna, who was born in 2001.