U.S. seeks $670,000 in taxes from Yankees owner

The U.S. government has sued New York Yankees co-owner Hal Steinbrenner and his wife seeking more than $670,00 in taxes, saying that amount was erroneously refunded to the baseball team based on a late refund claim for the 2001 tax year.
The suit filed by the Internal Revenue Service in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday stems from a time when the Yankees and the New Jersey Nets professional basketball team formed a joint venture called YankeeNets.
Hal Steinbrenner is listed as a general partner of the Yankees along with his siblings, who inherited the team when their father and longtime owner George Steinbrenner died in 2010. Hal Steinbrenner's wife Christina Steinbrenner is not listed among the team's executives.

In August of 2009, the defendants filed an amended tax return for the 2001 tax year, resulting in a refund of $670,493.78, the suit said. But the return was filed more than six months after the deadline, resulting in an erroneous refund, the suit said.
"Hal Steinbrenner's representatives had no knowledge of the lawsuit and had received no prior notices regarding this matter from the IRS or any other governmental agency. We are reviewing and have no comment," Alice McGillion, a spokeswoman for the Yankees, said in a statement.