IRS Continues To Hound Indy Champ Helio Castroneves

The IRS lost its famous tax evasion case against Indy champion Helio Castroneves, but that doesn’t mean the IRS has given up. No, the agency continues to hound the driver. 

The tax evasion case against Helio Castroneves, his sister and sports attorney was the kind of tabloid fodder we all love. He made millions from racing and it was purportedly paid offshore in a licensing deal. The money was supposed to go to this island, but actually went to that and somehow ended up in an annuity in the Netherlands. All told, the IRS claimed Helio had skirted paying taxes on 5.5 million in income. The jury felt differently and acquitted all the defendants.

Following the court decision, Helio went on to win the Indianapolis 500 later in the month. It was all the rage on television and the news. As the publicity faded, Helio did something very interesting. He took the money out of the Netherlands and walked into the IRS with a check for some $5 million dollars in an effort to put things straight. The IRS took the check, but did not close the file. 

The IRS is claiming Castroneves owes it another six million dollars or so. The reason? Other unpaid back taxes total just over three million dollars. Brutally, the agency is also asserting the lack of payments was done fraudulently and are applying a 75 percent penalty. This adds another $2.7 million to the bill. Ouch. Helio is contesting the matter in tax court. It is a civil matter, not criminal, so he does not face the prospect of jail time should he lose. No, he’ll just be a bit less wealthy!

The IRS is accused of many things. Some are true. Some are not. One that is universally true is the agency tends to be a very sore loser. The case against Helio is clearly designed to make him pay a terrible price given his victory in the tax evasion case. Remember, this all started with an accusation he hadn’t paid tax on $5.5 million in income. He has now paid $5 million and the IRS wants another $6 million for a total of $11 million. 

Yep, I would call that punishment.