California Won’t Let Jackson Dance Away from Taxes

The state of California has joined a growing line of creditors seeking money from the late singer Michael Jackson’s estate.

The state’s tax board has filed a claim for $1,647 from the estate, saying that’s how much it cost to remind the late King of Pop to file his tax return for 2007. Jackson’s attorney told the Associated Press the debt would be paid, which may put a small dent in the state’s $20 billion budget deficit.

California is one of many creditors who have filed claims with the estate for unpaid debts. On the other hand, Jackson’s estate signed a deal earlier this month with Sony, worth up to $250 million, to release 10 Jackson projects by 2017. Jackson’s debts were estimated at over $300 million at the time he died last year.

California filed a tax lien last June against the singer’s former doctor, Conrad Murray, only nine days before Jackson died (see Michael Jackson Doctor Faces Tax Lien). California attorney general Jerry Brown filed a petition earlier this week to revoke Murray’s medical license. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a coroner ruled Jackson’s death a homicide caused by an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and other sedatives administered as sleep aids.