Tax day in pop culture: Movies about taxes and the IRS

When movie characters don’t pay their taxes, hijinks ensue. Here are some popular characters who have rumbled with the IRS.

5 Seconds

00:00

Catch Me If You Can

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale Jr., a criminal mastermind who is able to con his way across the country and embezzle millions of dollars. What set off his years of fraud? In the beginning of the film, his family is denied a loan due to a series of IRS tax frauds by his father, which leads to his parents’ divorce.

/ Reuters

The Blues Brothers

John Belushi, left, and Dan Akroyd star as Jake and Elwood Blues, who are on a mission to earn the $5,000 in unpaid property taxes that will save their childhood home.

/ AP

The House of Sand and Fog

Jennifer Connelly stars as a woman whose house is wrongly repossessed by the county after it is alleged that she owes back taxes. When she tries to get the home back from its new owners, a series of catastrophic events ensue.

/ Dreamworks Pictures

The Tourist

Angelina Jolie as Elise and Johnny Depp as Frank, in a chase movie about a woman involved in the search for her old lover, who owes millions in back taxes.

/ Peter Mountain

Stranger Than Fiction

Will Ferrell stars as an auditor for the IRS in the quirky comedy. One day, he wakes up to find that his life is being narrated in the third person by an unseen author.

/ Ralph Nelson

Happy Gilmore

In the 1996 film, Adam Sandler stars as a rejected hockey player who begins a lucrative golf career — all to save his grandmother’s house, after he learns that the IRS is about to claim it.

Universal Pictures / ABC

Robin Hood

The hero who steals from the rich to give to the poor has appeared in dozens of films. In the 2010 film starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, the hero recovers taxed grain for villagers and prevents land from being taken by the king.

/ David Appleby

The Producers

Lee Meredith with Zero Mostell, center, and Gene Wilder in a scene from the 1968 movie. The men star as Broadway producers who realize they can make more money on a flop than a hit production — but their clever bookkeeping gets them arrested for tax fraud.

/ AP

The Shawshank Redemption

Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, an inmate at a harsh prison, who gives tax advice to guards and other prisoners.

/ Castlerock Entertainment

The Untouchables

Robert De Niro starred as Al Capone — famously convicted for tax evasion — in the 1987 movie.

/ Paramount

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 18: Jockey Gary Stevens rides Oxbow out to the front of the pack on the first straight away during the 138th Running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., on Saturday, May 18, 2013. (Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

Oxbow wins and infield fun at Preakness Stakes in Baltimore

Oxbow put D. Wayne Lukas in the record books again with an upset of Orb in the Preakness, giving the Hall of Fame trainer his 14th win in a Triple...

Graduating students' with rain soaked mortar boards from a driving rain, listen as US President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address during a ceremony at Morehouse College on May 19, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Obama addresses Morehouse College graduates

President Obama gets personal about race and manhood in a speech to graduates of historically black Morehouse College.

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 19: Singer Taylor Swift accepts the award for 'Top Billboard 200 Album' onstage during the 2013 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 19, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The 2013 Billboard Music Awards red carpet and ceremony

Stars float down the red carpet in Las Vegas to make their way into a performance-filled awards ceremony with artists such as Prince, Justin...

New York Yankees' Travis Hafner bats during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Sunday, May 12, 2013, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

MLB power rankings

Barry Svrluga assesses the best teams in Major League Baseball through Thursday.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 13: Many seminary graduates are choosing not to become pastors. Rebecca J. Cole received her Master of Divinity and is becoming a community organizer on Capitol Hill. She hugs another graduate after the ceremony. The 2013 Commencement ceremony for Wesley Theological Seminary was held on May 13 at the Washington National Cathedral. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Eager to minister, but not from the pulpit

An increasing number of divinity students who don’t plan to become pastors envision using their degrees to “minister” in a...

epa03704474 A Muslim woman at the ThetKalPyin temporary relief camp near Sittwe in Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 17 May 2013. A total of 13 people were confirmed dead in neighboring Bangladesh as people began to return home from shelters, a day after Cyclone Mahasen hit the coast, officials said 17 May. EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING

Photos of the day

Cyclone Mahasen, Texas tornadoes, puffin census, melting Swiss glacier and more.

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 16: American Idol Season 12 Winner Candice Glover (C) is seen onstage during Fox's 'American Idol 2013' Finale Results Show at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on May 16, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Candice Glover wins 12th season of ‘American Idol’

The 23-year-old vocal powerhouse from St. Helena Island, S.C., tops competition in her third try.

US actress Claire Julien smiles on May 16, 2013 while posing during a photocall for the film 'The Bling Ring' at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Cannes, one of the world's top film festivals, opened on May 15 and will climax on May 26 with awards selected by a jury headed this year by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Claire Julien, David Hasselhoff, Freida Pinto, Candice Glover, Martin Short and more.

Back to Previous Gallery