IRS to put $4.5M Figure Eight Island house up for auction

The founder of an M&A consulting firm and his wife are on the hook for more than $7 million in tax liens tied to a luxury home on Figure Eight Island.

Ralph C. Taylor Jr. of Taylor Advisory LLC and his wife, Nancy, of Chapel Hill, are being sued by the U.S. government – again. A federal lawsuit on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service asks a court to start foreclosure proceedings for the property at 4 Inlet Hook Road at the northern end of the island.

The IRS placed tax liens on the property based on unpaid federal income taxes that racked up from 2008 to 2014, totaling more than $7.2 million. The agency had previously settled a lawsuit with the Taylors in 2022 – the couple consented to an order of sale if the property had not been sold by July of this year. The date was extended until Sept. 30, but the property is still in their possession, according to the lawsuit.

“Thus the United States is entitled to foreclose on the [house] pursuant to the Order of Sale,” according to the civil complaint filed this month. Under the IRS order, the house would be up for auction.

According to a Realtor.com listing, the four-bedroom, 5.5-bath house is 3,090 square feet and for sale at a price of $4.5 million. The house was also listed as being available for rent. Tax records in New Hanover County say the property has an appraised value of $2.032 million. The house was built in 1994, records show.

Until the property is sold, the Taylors would be required to take “all reasonable steps necessary” to preserve the property and its fixtures, as well as maintain its insurance policies.

The Taylors are being represented by Douglas Kingsbery of Tharrington Smith, who didn’t immediately return a request to comment.

The house has the same address listed in a regulatory filing for Taylor Advisory, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm founded by Ralph Taylor. The company also did not immediately return a request to comment for this story.

In the original IRS lawsuit, a judge also found Ralph Taylor responsible, individually, for another nearly $1.1 million in taxes, plus interest.

According to New Hanover County records, property was purchased from Monroe Development Corp. by the Taylors in 1994 for $647,500.

The house is located near the former beach house of Raleigh entrepreneur John McConnell, which recently sold for a record-breaking price of $13 million.