DETROIT — Singer Aretha Franklin’s estate has paid at least $3 million in back taxes to the IRS since her death in August, an attorney for the late Queen of Soul’s estate said Thursday.
The estate is being audited by the IRS, which filed a claim this month in a county probate court north of Detroit, David Bennett said.
Earlier on Thursday, TMZ reported that legal documents it obtained showed the IRS claimed the singer owes more than $6.3 million in back taxes from 2012 to 2018 as well as $1.5 million in penalties.
“We have a tax attorney. All of her returns have been filed,” Bennett said.
“We have disputes with the IRS regarding what they claim was income. We claim it’s double-dipping income because they don’t understand how the business works,” he said.
Bennett added that Franklin had a lot of expenses whenever she toured.
“She had to pay for transportation, hotel rooms, backup singers, musicians. When she did that the IRS was questioning the returns she filed,” Bennett said.
“We’re going through audits. Returns were filed as timely as we could get them filed.”
Franklin died of pancreatic cancer at 76 in her Detroit apartment last August.
At the time of her death, Franklin owned a home in Oakland County’s Bloomfield Township.
The IRS filed the claim this month in Oakland County Probate Court in Pontiac.
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