Chris Tucker's Tax Debt -- One Million Down, 12 Mil to Go

Comedian Chris Tucker is finally getting serious about paying off his enormous $12 million tax debt ... so much so the actor cut a check (okay, two checks) for almost $1 MILLION.

As TMZ first reported, the "Rush Hour" star is knee deep in tax problems. The IRS says he owes over $11.5 million in unpaid taxes from a slew of years. Plus, the state of Georgia says he owes $590,000 from 2007. All totaled, he owes over $12 million.

CT took the hint to cough up some cash and paid off the GA state tax lien ... PLUS another GA tax lien no one even knew he had. The breakdown:

1. $592,594.82 for 2007 -- PAID
2. $392,332.16 for 2006 -- PAID

All in all, "The Silver Linings" star dropped $985.028.98 chipping away at those pesky tax bills.

And this is how we assume he celebrated ...