Whitney Houston’s estate strikes $2M tax deal with IRS

The estate of the late award-winning singer and actress Whitney Houston has reportedly reached a deal with the Internal Revenue Service to pay $2,275,366 in taxes, far less than the $11.7 million the IRS said it was owed.

Houston’s estate and the IRS have been battling over the value of her royalties, residuals and image. The much-awarded singer died in 2012 at the age of 48 after drowning in her bathtub, with cocaine and heart disease contributing to her demise. Her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown was initially named the sole beneficiary of her estate, but then died in 2015 at the age of 22, also after being found in her bathtub. She slipped into a coma and died several months later in a hospice.

A trial in the case of Houston’s estate was scheduled for February, but the settlement will allow the IRS and the estate to avoid court, according to the entertainment news site The Blast, which first reported on the deal.

Bobbi Kristina Brown’s estate has been the subject of a separate dispute among various family members who are also celebrated singers, including her father, Bobby Brown, and grandmother Cissy Houston.

The estate of singer Michael Jackson has also been embroiled in a dispute with the IRS (see Michael Jackson estate may avoid penalties in IRS dispute).