Michael Jackson Estate to Face Smaller Tax Bill After Court Ruling

By Richard Rubin

Michael Jackson's estate prevailed over the Internal Revenue Service on several key issues in a closely watched court case, an outcome that will push the estate's tax burden below the government's initial assessment.

In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. Tax Court Judge Mark Holmes found that the singer's name and likeness were worth just $4 million when he died in 2009, not the $161 million the government had claimed. The IRS won on some other points about the value of other Jackson assets, but will get far less than the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and penalties it had sought from the estate.

Write to Richard Rubin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-03-21 1557ET