Editing Nicolas Cage (section)

===Real estate and tax problems===

[[Image:Neidstein Schloss1.jpg|thumb|[[Schloss Neidstein]] in Bavaria was owned by Cage between 2007 and 2009.]]
Cage was once considered one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, earning $40&nbsp;million in 2009 according to ''[[Forbes]]'', although he failed to make ''Forbes''' Top 10 List in 2014.<ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref name="94xP0" />  In 2004 he bought a property on [[Paradise Island]], Bahamas. In May 2006, he bought a {{convert|40|acre|ha|adj=on}} island in the [[Exuma]] archipelago, some {{convert|85|mi|km}} southeast of [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]] and close to a similar island owned by [[Faith Hill]] and [[Tim McGraw]].<ref name="iFec3" /> He bought the medieval castle [[Schloss Neidstein]] in the [[Oberpfalz]] region in Germany in 2006 and sold it in 2009 for $2.5&nbsp;million. His grandmother was German, living in [[Cochem|Cochem an der Mosel]].<ref name="zeitung" />

In August 2007, Cage purchased "Grey Craig", a {{convert|24000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} brick-and-stone country manor in [[Middletown, Rhode Island]]. With an estate occupying {{convert|26|acre|ha}}, the home has 12 bedrooms and 10 full bathrooms and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It borders the [[Norman Bird Sanctuary]] to the west. The sale ranked among the state of Rhode Island's most expensive residential purchases.<ref name="uZ1i6" /><ref name="2oA6n" /> Also in 2007, Cage purchased [[Midford Castle]] in Somerset, England.<ref name="hodgson" /><ref name="chittenden" /> Shortly after selling his German castle, Cage also put his homes in Rhode Island, [[Louisiana]], [[Nevada]], and California, as well as a $7-million island in the [[Bahamas]], on the market.<ref name="ZYHIk" />

On July 14, 2009, the [[Internal Revenue Service]] filed documents in New Orleans in connection with a [[tax lien|federal tax lien]] against property owned by Cage in Louisiana, concerning unpaid federal taxes. The IRS alleged that Cage failed to pay over $6.2&nbsp;million in federal income tax for the year 2007.<ref name="houstonchronicle" /> In addition, the Internal Revenue Service had another lien for more than $350,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2002 to 2004.<ref name="rodriguez" /> Cage filed a $20-million lawsuit on October 16, 2009, against his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, alleging negligence and fraud.<ref name="ruin" /> The lawsuit stated that Levin "had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed [Cage] in speculative and risky real estate investments 'resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses.{{'"}}<ref name="ruin" /> Cage also faced separate lawsuits from [[East West Bank]]<ref name="indiatimes" /> and Red Curb Investments for unpaid, multi-million dollar loans.

[[Image:1140 Royal Street.jpg|thumb|alt=Three-storey rectangular building|upright|The LaLaurie Mansion in [[New Orleans]] was purchased anonymously by Cage in 2007 and sold in 2009.]]

Samuel Levin filed a counter-complaint and responded to the lawsuit in a filing stating that he warned Cage that he was living beyond his means and urged him to spend less. Levin's filing states that "instead of listening to Levin, cross-defendant Cage (Coppola) spent most of his free time shopping for high ticket purchases, and wound up with 15 personal residences." Levin's complaint continued: "Likewise, Levin advised Coppola against buying a Gulfstream jet, against buying and owning a flotilla of yachts, against buying and owning a squadron of Rolls Royces, against buying millions of dollars in jewelry and art."<ref name="money.cnn.com" />

In his filing, Levin said that in 2007, Cage's "shopping spree entailed the purchase of three additional residences at a total cost of more than $33 million; the purchase of 22 automobiles (including 9 Rolls Royces), 12 purchases of expensive jewelry, and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items."<ref name="money.cnn.com" /> One of those items was a dinosaur skull of a ''[[Tarbosaurus]]''. After discovering that it was [[United States v. One Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton|stolen]], he returned it to the Mongolian authorities.<ref name="I0pa7" />

According to Cage, he owned the "Most Haunted House in America", a home located in the [[French Quarter]] of New Orleans, Louisiana.<ref name="letterman" /> Known as "The LaLaurie House" after its former owner [[Delphine LaLaurie]], the house was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009, along with another New Orleans property for a total of $5.5&nbsp;million, in the wake of Cage's financial problems.<ref name="foreclose" /> His [[Bel Air, Los Angeles|Bel Air]] home, which had six loans totaling $18&nbsp;million on it, failed to sell at an April 2010 foreclosure auction despite an opening offer of $10.4&nbsp;million, substantially less than the $35&nbsp;million that Cage had originally tried to sell it for. The home, built in 1940 for $110,000 (equivalent to about ${{Inflation|US-GDP|.11|1940|r=1}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}), had been owned at different times by [[Dean Martin]] and singer [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]].<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

The home eventually sold in November 2010 for $10.5&nbsp;million.<ref name="beale2" /> Another home in Nevada also faced foreclosure auction.<ref name="foreclose" /> In November 2011, Cage sold his [[Action Comics 1|''Action Comics'' #1]] in an online auction managed by [[Heritage Auctions]] for a record-breaking $2.16&nbsp;million (the previous record being $1.5&nbsp;million), to assist paying his tax liens and other debts. Cage purchased the comic in 1997 for $110,000.<ref name="Gyd4X" /> The comic had been stolen from him in 2000, and Cage had received an insurance payment on the item. In March 2011, it was found in a storage locker in the [[San Fernando Valley]] and was verified by ComicConnect.com to be the copy sold to Cage previously.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/apr/10/simi-man-helps-recover-1-million-comic-book-from/ | title=Simi man helps recover $1 million comic book stolen from Nicolas Cage | last=Harris | first=Mike | date=April 10, 2011 | work=[[Ventura County Star]] | access-date=June 14, 2011 | archive-date=February 6, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206070419/http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/apr/10/simi-man-helps-recover-1-million-comic-book-from/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Worth around $25&nbsp;million by May 2017, Cage was reportedly "taking [film] roles left and right" in order to pay off his remaining debts.<ref name="Martin.Emmie" /> By 2022, Cage confirmed that he had finally paid off his debts and intended to be more selective with his film roles.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last= Paiella |first= Gabriella |date=March 22, 2022 |title=Nicolas Cage Can Explain It All |url=https://www.gq.com/story/nicolas-cage-april-cover-profile |access-date=May 25, 2024 |magazine=[[GQ]]}}</ref>