The Artist Known as Prince Will Respond to IRS’s Tax Information Request

(Bloomberg) The business manager for Prince Rogers Nelson, the recording artist known as Prince, said her client will respond to a request from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for tax information.

The manager, Debra Whelan, said in an emailed statement Wednesday that until the inquiry was disclosed in the press, she was unaware of a “routine request” from the IRS claiming Prince failed to comply with a summons issued on behalf of French tax authorities.

“The IRS had incorrect information for service and left the notice at an address of record,” Whelan said in the statement. “Now that the matter has been brought to our attention, we will promptly respond and provide the requested information.”

The IRS asked the musician to appear in response to a inquiry from its French counterpart “to examine the French income tax liability of Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson for tax years 2009 and 2010,” according to the documents filed this week in federal court in Minneapolis.

Prince hasn’t responded, the IRS said. The petition asks the court to enforce the summons. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Oct. 18 before U.S. District Judge David S. Doty.

The French government lodged its request in July 2011 in a letter listing several concerts it believed Prince had played in France during the two years at question and asking for additional documentation about the relationship between the artist and the production and recording company Paisley Park Enterprises Inc.

The case is U.S. v. Nelson, 12-mc-00071, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota (Minneapolis).

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