Lauryn Hill Faces Federal Tax Charges

Lauryn Hill, the Grammy award winning singer, was charged with failing to file three years of income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service.

Hill, of South Orange, N.J., was accused in federal court in Newark of not filing returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007, years in which she received $1.8 million in gross income, primarily in music and movie royalties.

She is scheduled to appear in court on June 29, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said Thursday in a statement.

Hill faces a year in prison and a $100,000 fine on each count. She was charged in a criminal information, a document that often precedes a guilty plea.

“Ms. Hill has been fully cooperating with the IRS’s investigation for a number of years,” her attorney, Nathan Hochman, said in a telephone interview.

Hill won two Grammy awards in 1996 as a member of the Fugees. Her album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” was named album of the year at the 1999 Grammy Awards. She also won awards then for best new artist, best rhythm and blues album, best R&B song and best female R&B vocal performance.