Jackson estate may be involved in tax litigation with the IRS
The estate of the late great Michael Jackson has been the subject of litigation on several different occasions. I recently wrote a post about the Jackson estate being the subject of a lawsuit stemming from an incomplete film about the superstar. The full story is found here.
The most recent development seems to involve the Jackson estate and the Internal Revenue Service in the United States. A story online outlines some of the details of the looming dispute. The subject of the dispute is back taxes. The valuation of the estate at the time of death seems to be one of the main points of disagreement. The IRS claims the Jackson estate was worth upwards of $400 million at the time Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009. The estate’s position is that due to various debts the total worth at the time of death was just over two thousand dollars. The IRS is claiming that at the time of death Jackson’s name and likeness were still extremely valuable.
The Jackson estate has had tremendous commercial success since his death. This has been the result of various enterprises including film, music, and a recent deal with Sony to sell Michael Jackson’s other half of the Sony/ATV music catalog. That deal fetched $750 million, while the estate has made close to $2 billion dollars since his death.
As a result of the positions of the parties involved, it is estimated that there may be up to $1 billion at stake when the dispute is heard at a Los Angeles tax tribunal. The Jackson estate dispute appears to be the first time the IRS has attempted to come after an estate due to the value of name and likeness of a person at the time of death.
More on the Michael Jackson estate and the IRS here.