MKR cowboy told to sell home to pay ‘substantial’ tax debt

Robert Murphy, the popular My Kitchen Rules contestant, owes the tax office a "substantial amount" in back taxes and has been told to sell his home to clear the debt.

The former Texan cowboy, who lives in Hazelbrook, New South Wales, received a bill from the Australian Taxation Office while filming the TV show, the Blue Mountains Gazette reports.

Mr Murphy, 61, is competing on the home cooking show with his daughter Lynzey.

While the exact amount he owes has not been disclosed, he said even if he wins the show's $250,000 prize money it won't be enough to cover the bill.

"I'll have to get a real job. It turns out after I retired I got this bill in the mail, a tax bill from the government. I'm not an accountant and I've been hiring people to do my taxes and evidently they've been doing a really poor job," he said.

Mr Murphy's dramas with the tax office stem from a property he owns in America in which his elderly mother lives.

"They want me to sell my property to pay my taxes," he said.

"They reckon they own 45 percent of what I own. It's pretty much going to take all my superannuation."

Despite facing the tough decision of selling his property to pay the bill, Mr Murphy said he has been in a "whole lot worse jams than this".

He was forced to return to the US during filming following the tragic death of his sister Maxine in a car accident.

"My sister was my ace in the hole, she knew me best, she knew every recipe ... Things are not that important, it's just stuff," he said.