The government’s handling of Hal Steinbrenner’s tax refund was about as smooth as Abbot explaining to Costello the lineup for the St. Louis Wolves.
In 2009, Hal Steinbrenner, son of George Steinbrenner and co-owner of the New York Yankees, filed an amended 2001 tax return in which he sought a $670,000 tax refund because the Yankees and the IRS settled a dispute in 2007 and it affected Hal’s 2001 taxes. The IRS accepted the return and paid the refund to Hal Steinbrenner.
Then, in December of 2011, in a complaint filed in Florida federal court, the government has attempted to reclaim the $670,000 refund from Hal Steinbrenner because it claims the refund that the IRS paid in 2009 was erroneous.
If only the complaint also suggested a new lineup for the Yankees: Who’s on first, What’s on second, and I Don’t Know on third.
Or as Yogi Berra would say, It’s never over until it’s over.
- Gary Altman, Esq. and Michael Wolsh, Esq.