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Twista Pleads Guilty to Five Counts of Failing to Pay Taxes, Faces Possible Prison Time
Twista pleaded guilty to five counts of willfully failing to pay taxes from 2019–2023; court filings say unpaid liabilities top $440,000 and sentencing is Oct. 22.
Tax stories are a recurring subplot in hip-hop, a reminder that the industry’s headline-making wealth can unravel quickly when the IRS comes knocking. This time the subject is Twista, the Chicago rapid-fire rapper who quietly pleaded guilty in May to five counts of willfully failing to pay income tax and now confronts the possibility of incarceration.
The filings
According to documents obtained by XXL on Monday (June 29), Carl Mitchell—known professionally as Twista—admitted to not paying federal income taxes from 2019 through 2023, despite earning from a range of revenue streams: live shows, streaming royalties, album sales and music licensing. Prosecutors say the filings paint a picture of someone who ignored repeated warnings and then took steps prosecutors interpret as attempts to shield assets.
Twista “pleaded guilty in May to not paying taxes from 2019 to 2023, despite making money from multiple sources of income, including shows, streaming royalties, album sales and music licensing.”
The court papers allege he received notices from the IRS and his accountant about outstanding liabilities but instead entered agreements with a third-party company to get advances on future royalties. Prosecutors argue those transactions were an effort to hide money from potential garnishment. Investigators also say Twista spent “heavily” during the same stretch, including buying at least four luxury vehicles, rather than using available funds to pay down the tax debt.
Court records indicate a longer history of tax trouble dating back to 2011. As of the filings, the unpaid amount tops $440,000. Each of the five counts carries a statutory maximum of up to one year in prison, though any sentence will be at the judge’s discretion.
Public response and next steps
Twista has not issued a public statement addressing the guilty plea or the specifics in the court documents. He did, however, make a late-May post on X that prosecutors and observers may see as an odd sidebar to the case: post on X
“Wouldn’t it be cool if Nurse’s doctors and fireman didn’t have to pay taxes.”
He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 22. Until then, the guilty plea closes one chapter of a long-running tax dispute that now moves from paperwork to the courtroom and leaves open the question of how a veteran artist’s finances became so entangled with advances, third-party deals and past liabilities.
