A Texan collector is suing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a $40.6m tax refund on works of art. The IRS sent Barbara Allbritton a “notice of deficiency” in 2013, the year after the death of her husband Joe Allbritton, a self-made millionaire and founder of Allbritton Communications. The IRS claimed that 33 paintings by artists including Cézanne, Gauguin, Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh, worth an estimated $139m, had been distributed from the family’s private holdings company, Perpetual Corp, to Joe Allbritton in 2005. It also claimed that Perpetual had paid the family $364,000 to insure the works, which would be a “taxable dividend”. Barbara Allbritton is contesting this, saying that no transfer of ownership ever took place between the holding company and the family. She is seeking a full refund.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'Collector sues IRS for $40.6m tax refund'