The IRS has accused Britney Spears of underpaying her 2021 taxes — and now the pop star is fighting back.
In September, the federal agency sent Spears a notice claiming that she owed $600,000 in unpaid income taxes, plus a $120,000 penalty for the mistake. But on Thursday (Dec. 18), the singer filed a petition in U.S. Tax Court asserting her 2021 taxes were correct after all.
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“The commissioner erred in determining that any part of any underpayment was due to negligence or disregard of rules and regulations,” write lawyers for Spears, Charles Ruchelman and Blair Hlinka.
The IRS is alleging that Spears failed to report $1.4 million in taxable income from Shiloh Standing Inc., a holding company for some of her music and performance assets. The agency also says she improperly deducted $334,000 in medical expenses from her tax returns, leading her to pay $737,000 in income taxes instead of the correct amount, $1.3 million.
Spears’ attorneys, however, say her deductions were all above board, and that the pop star “properly reported her share of income, gains, expenses and losses from the business activities of Shiloh Standing Inc. for the tax year at issue.”
The singer is asking a judge to determine that her 2021 taxes were right all along, and that both the $600,000 deficiency and $120,000 penalty are uncalled for. Reached for comment on Friday (Dec. 19), an IRS rep said the agency “does not comment on pending litigation.”
Notably, Spears was still under a legal conservatorship for the bulk of the 2021 tax year. Under this arrangement, established in 2008 after Spears was hospitalized for a psychiatric evaluation, the singer’s father, Jamie Spears, was in charge of her finances.
Jamie was suspended from his role as conservator in September 2021, and a Los Angeles judge formally ended the 13-year arrangement the following November.
