Taxation & Estate Planning

Caged Up

By Darrin Mish

Nicolas Cage is not a happy man, at least not with the IRS. The federal agency has placed two liens on the properties he wants to sell in New Orleans for failing to pay taxes in 2007. The liens amount to the total unpaid taxes of about $6.26 million. Besides these liens on the properties, the IRS has also issued another lien of $360,545.84 stemming from unpaid income taxes from 2002 to 2004.

With the liens in place, the actor cannot sell or refinance his homes until he settles the tax debt or the proceeds will be taken out at the closing of the sale. Talk about feeling 'caged up' (no pun intended). One of the properties is a three-storey, purple gray building known as the LaLaurie mansion at 1140 Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Cage put the 10,300 square foot property which he bought in 2006, up for sale at $3.55 million. The actor was quoted on the Late Show with David Letterman as saying the house was 'allegedly the most haunted house in the United States of America'. You'd be forgiven in thinking he'll never sell that house if he keeps talking like that.

Another house that Cage owns is a Garden district mansion with a double gallery and formal gardens at 2523 Prytania which he bought earlier in 2005. The actor put this mansion up on the market for $3.45 million. The IRS liens are not specifically for one property or the other, rather they apply to any property that Cage owns.

Cage's mansions are being sold by Dorian Bennette Sotheby's International Realty. A representative of the realtor states that the liens should have no impact on the sell-ability of the homes as many people with different issues are selling their properties. The liens are merely a legal and financial issue. In fact, according to Dorian Bennette, the properties have attracted more than its fair share of interested potential buyers because of their exquisite architecture.

Cage, a nephew of director Francis Ford Coppolla, is best known for his Academy Award winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas more than 10 years ago. But of late, the star has not had much success at the box office with a string of flops like 'Bangkok Dangerous', 'Knowing', 'National Treasure: Book of Secrets', 'Ghostrider' and 'Grindhouse'.

Well, we wish Mr. Cage all the best in selling his homes.
Darrin T. Mish is a veteran, nationally recognized tax attorney who has focused on providing IRS help to taxpayers for almost two decades. He regularly travels the country training other attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents on how to handle their toughest cases with the IRS. He is highly ranked among the top attorneys in the country, with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and a perfect 10 on Avvo.com. Martindale-Hubbell has also honored him with a listing in their Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He is a member of the American Society of IRS Problem Solvers and the Tax Freedom Institute. With clients on every continent but Antarctica, he has what it takes to solve your IRS problems no matter where you live in the world. If you would like more information about his practice and how he can help you, please call his office at (813) 229-7100 or toll free at 1-888-GET-MISH.

Full post as published by IRS Problem Solver Blog on September 08, 2009 (boomark / email).