Aretha Franklin in "Amazing Grace."
Aretha Franklin died in 2018, leaving behind more than $7.8 million in unpaid income taxes. As of December, the estate still owed the IRS $4.75 million.
Brian McCollum of the Detroit Free Press reports:
Now, in a major breakthrough, Franklin’s four sons and the IRS have reached an agreement that would speed up payment of the remaining tax burden — while giving the sons an injection of money from their late mother’s fortune. At the moment, the heirs receive no money from the estate because of the IRS situation.
In a petition filed Feb. 19 in Oakland County Probate Court, the estate said the proposed arrangement includes an immediate $800,000 payment to the IRS, though the estate continues to dispute the overall balance owed. Since Franklin’s death, the estate has been steadily paying on the tax debt — and its ever-accruing interest — while formally appealing the agency’s claimed total.
