This recent piece in Wealth Management highlights the importance of having an experienced professional to provide guidance about tax filing preparation, and in this matter specifically, deductions.
In January, the star, also known as Queen B, was not immune from receiving a “Notice of Delinquency” from the IRS, which claimed that Beyoncé owes more than $1.4 million in unpaid tax and about another million dollars in penalties. Beyoncé responded that the IRS is disallowing charitable deductions and that her actions (statements and calculations documented in her tax filings), were reasonable and made in good faith. Sounds like she is pretty confident that fighting the IRS’s claims is the way to go in this case.
Tax Court is not as exciting as other types of court, and in all likelihood, this matter will settle before any fireworks take place in court, which would be a rarity anyway since most issues are worked out in advance by exchanging documents about agreed-upon issues. Although it causes a stir to hear that Beyoncé, worth somewhere around $450 million, is in hot water with the IRS, it probably won’t inspire her to write any songs about the experience.
In any event, because the burden is on the tax filer to prove why the IRS is incorrect in its claims, Beyoncé’s confidence that her professionals knew what they were doing (or at least were reasonably mistaken) when assisting with her tax filings is a lot better for her than knowing the IRS will be able to prove what a “Beautiful Liar” she was.