Meth wrote a check to the taxman...but then he got high...

The Staten Island rapper, actor and producer known as Method Man was tagged with another label Monday: tax cheat.

The 38-year-old Grammy-winning artist, a founding member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, was arrested for stiffing the tax man out of $32,799.

Method Man, whose real name is Clifford Smith, is accused of failing to pay New York State income taxes between 2004 and 2007. He faces up to four years in prison, if convicted.

The back story, according to the rapper, is simple.

“Myself, I’m a pothead, it’s no secret. Everyone knows that. I go on the road and forget everything else. Sure, [the tax department] sent letters to my house saying, ‘We need this money.’ They started sending them in 2002. Here it is, 2009, and I never paid this s— because I don’t think like that!”