Whitney Houston Estate Fights IRS

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Whitney Houston passed away over four years ago, but her estate is still in an ongoing dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over the value of the estate and how much tax is owed.

Both the estates of Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina have had to deal with family feuds over who would inherit the estates and who would be in charge. It has been assumed that the fighting over Whitney Houston's estate was over, but there is still one last battle for the estate.

It is currently in tax court in a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over the value of the estate, according to the Hollywood Reporter in "Whitney Houston Estate Challenges $11 Million Tax Bill."

The IRS claims the estate underreported the value of Houston's estate by $22.6 million and that $11 million is owed to the government, which includes a $3 million penalty fee. The bulk of the discrepancy is over the value of song and performance royalties as well as the value of the late singer's albums.

However, the two sides also disagree over the value of the publicity rights.

Even though the IRS and the estate only differ by $200,000 over the value of the publicity rights that is the dispute legal observers will watch the most closely.

Why?

The outcome has potential implications for similar disputes in other celebrity estate tax battles, including Michael Jackson and Prince.

This case has only recently gone to court so it is likely to be a while before an outcome is reached.

Reference: Hollywood Reporter (May 27, 2016) "Whitney Houston Estate Challenges $11 Million Tax Bill."

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