IRS Admits MJ Error - Pollstar News

The Internal Revenue Service says it made a mistake in valuing Michael Jackson’s estate. And, unsurprisingly, it wasn’t in the estate’s favor.

Photo: Kevin Mazur, AEG/Getty Images, file/AP

Rehearsing at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Jackson’s estate is fighting an IRS claim for $702 million in extra taxes and penalties. Now, the IRS said the figure is mistaken – the tax bill is actually $731 million, according to Forbes. IRS auditors reported they originally thought Jackson owned 50 percent of certain master records when he died in 2009.

As it turns out, he owned 100 percent of them and the interest is worth $91 million, the IRS reportedly says. The Jackson estate tax return in question reported $11 million.

The uptick raises the IRS’ valuation of Jackson’s estate and lifetime taxable gifts to $1.178 billion, compared with $7 million reported by the estate.

The IRS now wants a total of $525.6 million in tax and $205.1 million in gross valuations misstatement and negligence penalties, with interest on top of that, according to Forbes.

Neither the estate nor the taxman expects a resolution of the dispute any time soon. Settlement conferences have reportedly ended four “relatively small” issues, the magazine reported, and still have opposing appraisers discussing the value of MJ’s tangible property.

Jackson’s intangible and intellectual property, such as his name, likeness and interest in music and performances, as well as two trusts that hold his music publishing rights and 50 percent interest in a joint music publishing venture with Sony/ATV, are considered the big-money issues that may still take years to sort out.