Aretha Franklin Attorney: $3 Million in Back Taxes Paid to IRS

David Bennett, a representative for the estate of the late singer Aretha Franklin, said the estate has paid at least $3 million in back taxes to the IRS since her death in August. The estate is being audited by the Internal Revenue Service, claiming that the estate owes $6.3 million in back taxes from 2012 to 2018 and $1.5 million in penalties.

“We have a tax attorney. All of her returns have been filed,” Bennett said. The estate is disputing the IRS’s claims, saying that the agency is confused on what was consider Franklin’s income and what was the extent of her expenses. Documents filed in court after Franklin’s death did not mention the value of her estate, which could run into the tens of millions.

In 2008, the singer said an attorney’s mistake caused her $700,000 mansion in Detroit to slip into foreclosure over $445 in 2005 taxes and late fees. The Detroit Free Press reported then that Franklin owed a total of $19,192 in back taxes on the property through 2007.

See Aretha Franklin Attorney: $3 Million in Back Taxes Paid to IRS, Fox News, December 28, 2018.

Special thanks to Laura Galvan (Attorney, San Antonio, Texas) for bringing this article to my attention.