Embattled blues singer Koko Taylor hounded by IRS

I'm listening to Koko Taylor as I write this, so consider me a biased source of insight on this story. I also saw her live when I had a summer job at the Cape Cod Melody Tent.

Nevertheless, here's a quick run-down of the story: 79-year old blues legend Koko Taylor is in poor health. According to a Forbes article, she "needs a wheelchair pushed by her child to reach the stage for her fewer and fewer live gigs." Other than her home valued at $280 thousand, she has no significant assets.

Oh yeah: the IRS says she owes them $400 thousand in taxes, penalties and interest. To try to keep her house, she offered to take out a reverse mortgage and pay $200 thousand plus half of any future net revenue. But the IRS refused.

You can read the details in the Forbes article and I know: people have a responsibility to pay taxes and it's the IRS' job to collect and blah blah blah.

But there aren't there better, more efficient and, frankly, less mean-spirited ways to increase tax revenues than going after an 80-year old blues singer who lacks any significant savings?