You’ve heard of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) auctioning off celebrity property, such as houses, cars, planes, and yachts, to pay off their tax debts. However, circumstances have resulted in the IRS auctioning off a baseball legend’s contractual rights to a 30-year-old deferred compensation contract to pay off his tax liens.
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According to AccountingToday.com, the IRS Property Appraisal and Liquidation Specialists unit will auction off the rights to receive payments from Mets homerun legend and MLB All Star Darryl Strawberry’s retirement annuity from the late 1980s under a compensation agreement, worth around $1.3 million, for a minimum bid of $550,000. If the minimum is not attained, the minimum may be reduced at a subsequent auction. The winning bid must be approved by a judge.
The court-ordered action will consolidate about 20 years of monthly payments into a lump sum that will be shared by the IRS and other creditors
And ESPN.go.com reports that the auction is a result of Strawberry’s tax troubles as well as a divorce settlement where part of the deferred compensation was awarded to his ex-wife. When she later sued to receive some of the funds, a district court judge in Florida ruled that the IRS, not the ex-wife, had rights to the annuity and that the IRS was required to sell it to raise money toward the tax debt. ESPN notes that “it was common practice” for the Mets to defer compensation in player contracts.
How strange. Wonder if this will actually get much interest from Mets fans. Or anyone.