Hunter Biden was indicted late Thursday on multiple counts of tax evasion, the second time this year President Joe Biden's troubled son has been charged by a special counsel investigating his personal and business dealings.

Hunter Biden "engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019," special counsel David Weiss said in the 56-page indictment filed in US district court in California.

Biden was charged with nine counts of failing to file and pay taxes, tax evasion and filing false tax returns, the indictment shows.

The new charges serve up more acute embarrassment for Joe Biden as he wages an uphill battle for reelection and fends off a Republican bid to impeach him on grounds that he benefitted from his son's overseas business dealings.