Aretha Franklin owed millions in back taxes

By Devin Culham

Dec 28, 2018 at 2:48 pm

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Aretha Franklin owed millions in back taxes

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The IRS is auditing Aretha Franklin's estate for millions in unpaid taxes.

On Thursday, TMZ obtained legal documents from the IRS that reveal that Franklin owed more than $6.3 million in back taxes between the years 2012-2018.

David Bennett, who represents Franklin's estate, told the Associated Press that the IRS submitted a claim in county probate court outside of Detroit.

Franklin's estate has already paid at least $3 million in back taxes, but is also facing fines of $1.5 million in addition to the original figure.

“We have a tax attorney. All of her returns have been filed," Bennett said in a statement to AP. “We have disputes with the IRS regarding what they claim was income. We claim its double-dipping income because they don’t understand how the business works.”

According to Bennett, the IRS is not accounting for the expenses that Franklin procured on the road, including transportation, accommodation, as well as performance fees for backup singers and musicians.

The Queen of Soul died of pancreatic cancer at age 76 in August and left no will. Documents filed in Oakland County following Franklin's death did not disclose how much the singer was worth, though Franklin's estate is speculated to be worth tens of millions of dollars.

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