In March 2014, I reported on the all-out battle that was ensuing in the U.S. Tax Court between the IRS and the Estate of Michael Jackson over the value of the late pop singer’s estate. It began in 2013, when the estate petitioned the court, alleging that the Service’s assessment, based upon the assertion that the estate underreported its estate tax obligation by more than $500 million, was incorrect. In addition, the estate challenged the IRS’s additional assessment of almost $200 million in penalties. Keep in mind that although these numbers are staggering, they do not include the estate’s potential state of California estate tax obligations.
If Michael Jackson could instruct his estate lawyers about case strategy, I am sure he would be recounting the lyrics from his 1982 smash hit Beat It:
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin’ how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Unfortunately, the case is not going the way Michael Jackson would have wanted it to go. Rather, victory appears to be nowhere in sight for either the taxpayer or the government.
It is now well over two years after the battle started. It continues to rage. Neither the IRS nor the estate is taking the tack from the title of the late pop singer’s 1991 hit song, Give In to Me.
In July 2014, the IRS added a little more pain to the estate’s already existing misery. It took a deeper look at the value of the estate’s ownership rights to the Jackson Five master recordings and the accrued royalties. As a result, the IRS increased the assessment by almost $29 million. Ouch! I am confident Michael Jackson would have responded to the IRS, quoting from his smash hit Leave Me Alone that appeared on the 1987 album Bad:
Leave me alone, stop it!
The IRS either isn’t hip enough to remember the late pop singer’s hit, Leave Me Alone, or it simply isn’t listening! Last week, it asked the court to add another $53 million in value to the estate.
The battle continues roaring strong. The IRS, in its quest to collect more taxes and penalties, appears to be leaving no stone unturned. I apologize in advance to my readers, but I have to quote Michael Jackson one more time; this time from his hit song Scream that appears on the 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I:
Tired of injustice
Tired of the schemes
The lies are disgusting
So what does it mean
Kicking me down
I got to get up
As jacked as it sounds
The whole system sucks
Trial in this case is currently scheduled for February 2017. It continues to be interesting. Stay tuned! I will follow up if the case resolves or takes another interesting turn.
PrincipalLarry is Chair of the Foster Garvey Tax & Benefits practice group. He is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. Larry's practice focuses on assisting public and private companies, partnerships, and high-net-worth ...
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Larry J. Brant
Editor
Larry J. Brant is a Shareholder and the Chair of the Tax & Benefits practice group at Foster Garvey, a law firm based out of the Pacific Northwest, with offices in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; New York, New York, Spokane, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Beijing, China. Mr. Brant is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. His practice focuses on tax, tax controversy and transactions. Mr. Brant is a past Chair of the Oregon State Bar Taxation Section. He was the long-term Chair of the Oregon Tax Institute, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Portland Tax Forum. Mr. Brant has served as an adjunct professor, teaching corporate taxation, at Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College. He is an Expert Contributor to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Catalyst. Mr. Brant is a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel. He publishes articles on numerous income tax issues, including Taxation of S Corporations, Reasonable Compensation, Circular 230, Worker Classification, IRC § 1031 Exchanges, Choice of Entity, Entity Tax Classification, and State and Local Taxation. Mr. Brant is a frequent lecturer at local, regional and national tax and business conferences for CPAs and attorneys. He was the 2015 Recipient of the Oregon State Bar Tax Section Award of Merit.
