Paul Hogan Stuck In Austrailia: 'Crocodile Dundee' Kept By Tax Officials Over $$$

SYDNEY — Actor Paul Hogan, star of the "Crocodile Dundee" movie trilogy, has been barred from leaving Australia until he pays a disputed tax bill, his lawyer said on Thursday.

The 70-year-old actor, who currently lives in Los Angeles and first gained a public profile in the United States with his cheerful offer to "slip an extra shrimp on the barbie" in Australian tourism TV ads in the mid 1980s, arrived in Sydney last week to attend the funeral of his mother Florence Hogan.

Hogan was served with an Australian Taxation Office order after landing last Friday that prevents him from leaving Australia until he settles a multimillion dollar tax bill, lawyer Andrew Robinson said.

"These may not be the appropriate circumstances to effectively make Paul a prisoner of Australia," Robinson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The order was "absolutely devastating" for Hogan's wife, "Crocodile Dundee" co-star Linda Kozlowski, and their 12-year-old son Chance, both of whom remained in Los Angeles, Robinson said.

Australian tax and crime investigators have fought Hogan in a five-year legal wrangle in Australian and U.S. courts to investigate evidence that he used offshore bank accounts to conceal earnings since his low-budget "Crocodile Dundee" movie became an international hit in 1986.

Tax authorities last month claimed Hogan owed tax on 38 million Australian dollars ($34 million) in allegedly undisclosed income. The exact tax bill has not been disclosed.

Hogan has denied any wrongdoing and disputes the tax bill. He has never been charged with tax evasion.

The Australian Tax Office refuses to comment due to a policy of not discussing individual cases.

Robinson said lawyers are negotiating with tax authorities to have the order revoked.

"Those discussions are ongoing. We are hoping that they will result in an arrangement that will allow him to go back to his wife and son," Robinson said, without elaborating.

Comments

[EagleBenny]

07:05 AM on 08/28/2010

What's Australia?

[Riss19]

09:01 PM on 08/27/2010

I didn't know the could do that...that sucks for him! I hope he pays it, then he can leave!

[Caymus77]

08:25 PM on 08/27/2010

Hogan was an idiot to return to Australia under the circumstances. Has he ever heard of Roman Polanski?

[LittleSanityLeft]

06:16 PM on 08/27/2010

I'd use every dime to get the hell out of that country.

[the964kid]

11:21 AM on 08/27/2010

"He has never been charged with tax evasion."

Before they effectively make Hogan a prisoner of Australia he should at least have a day in court. His movie and his tourism ads brought a lot of money to Australia, it's pretty weak to do this to a 70 y.o. man, especially when he hasn't even been charged with evading taxes.

[Daniel Buckley]

12:40 AM on 08/27/2010

Guess he's not having a g day.

(Be kind). :)

[J Accuse]

12:08 AM on 08/27/2010

Haha, that's not tax evasion... THIS is tax evasion!

[Doc Wattson]

01:56 AM on 08/27/2010

lol, fanned

[LMPE]

11:06 PM on 08/26/2010

As I understand it, most Aussies are kind of ticked off at Paul Hogan. Not only did he stereotype the entire country, but after "Crocodile Dundee" came out, Hogan dumped his first wife and married his co-star Linda Kozlowski, thereby violating the "cut down the tall poppy" concept.

[LittleSanityLeft]

06:15 PM on 08/27/2010

If what you say is indeed correct then most Aussies are a bunch of emotionally weak tossers with too much concern for the lives of others when they should just focus on their own.

[olddognewtrick]

07:17 PM on 08/26/2010

You call that a tax lien? No. This is a tax lien!

[Eliska Jeffrey]

06:58 PM on 08/26/2010

I must be the only one who thinks that it serves him right.If he wasn't famous people wouldn't stick up for him.

[ProCynic]

02:52 PM on 08/26/2010

What does Australia use for a penal colony? Would they ship him out to Miami? Talk about human rights violations just for having a little tax bill.

[karlo5]

02:43 PM on 08/26/2010

Is it a sheila thing, my freind?

[dadw5boys]

12:47 PM on 08/26/2010

You must be a millionaire to become a citizen there and look like a millionaire to leave if your all ready a citizen.

[hypnotoad72]

12:27 PM on 08/26/2010

Talk about isolationism! :)

[mmsuki]

12:00 PM on 08/26/2010

"used offshore bank accounts to conceal earnings".

Sounds very much like many US corporations.

[cornelison]

03:10 AM on 08/27/2010

Maybe Hogan didn't give enough $$$ to the politicians to make them look the other way.