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IRS Puts Liens on Martin’s Estate, Says He Owes $86,137 in Back Taxes

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From Associated Press

An Internal Revenue Service official Friday defended his agency’s filing of three liens against the estate of Billy Martin within 24 hours of the former New York Yankee manager’s death.

“We look at every case individually, and we file liens in cases involving deceased persons when we feel it is necessary to protect the interests of the U.S. government,” said Terry Dunford, a spokesman for the IRS in Buffalo.

The liens were filed in the Broome County Clerk’s office Tuesday. Martin died Monday when his pickup truck crashed near his farm in Upstate New York. He was a passenger in the truck.

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Under the liens, the IRS is seeking to collect a total of $86,137 in back taxes that agents say Martin owes the government: $10,988 in unpaid income taxes for 1981, $8,381 for 1982 and $66,767 for 1988.

The government claims Martin under-reported his income for those three years.

Martin had battled before with the IRS.

In July, a lien of $35,564.62 was filed against Martin in Broome County for an outstanding balance in Martin’s 1987 personal income taxes. Dunford said that lien has “since been satisfied.”

Dunford said the IRS only files liens against a person or estate after making “numerous efforts” to privately work out a payment schedule with that person. Citing IRS privacy regulations, Dunford said he could not answer direct questions about the agency’s dealings with Martin.

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