Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Lawsuits
archive

Barbara Allbritton sues IRS for $40.6m tax refund

The collector is arguing that no transfer of ownership of her collection ever took place

Richelle Simon
1 March 2015
Share

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'

LawsuitsCollectorsTaxPost-Impressionism
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Robert Rauschenbergarchive
30 April 2012

Taxman swoops on Rauschenberg’s “$65m eagle”

How much is Canyon, 1959, worth?

Cristina Ruiz
Art marketnews
5 September 2018

Dealer Mary Boone pleads guilty to $1.6m in tax fraud

The art dealer will pay $3m in restitution to the IRS after falsifying returns to hide her use of gallery profits to upgrade her Manhattan home

Margaret Carrigan
Taxnews
24 November 2023

Internal Revenue Service warns of tax scam targeting collectors

Scheme involves inflating value of donated works to claim bigger tax deductions

Daniel Grant