More tax trouble for Castroneves?

Just as he gets ready to try again for a record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 win, Helio Castroneves is facing renewed questions about taxes. The Miami Herald reports that the Brazilian star, who was acquitted in a criminal tax-evasion case two years ago, is facing renewed scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service, which again says he owes millions more in back taxes despite having paid paid $5 million in income taxes after the last trial.

The Herald reports that the IRS is asserting in U.S. Tax Court that Castroneves still owes more than $6 million in additional taxes and fraud penalties on the very same licensing income he earned from Penske Racing from 2000-'04. Castroneves is disputing the IRS's contention.

“It's almost like a re-trial,” Miami attorney David Garvin, who, along with lawyer Roy Black, represented Castroneves in the 2009 trial, told the Herald. “He did pay off his taxes after the trial, but that doesn't seem good enough for them.”

Garvin, a tax specialist, said he always realized it was possible the IRS would come after his client again in a civil case, which has a lower standard of proof than a criminal trial. “But I had hoped they would realize with the jury's [not guilty] verdict that their position was without merit,” he said.

According to the IRS's notice, the agency has “determined that all or part of the underpayment of the required taxes on the returns is due to fraud,” noting that a 75-percent penalty has been imposed on the unpaid taxes, as a result.

Castroneves' lawyer said the IRS's “actions are not supported by the law and appear to be improperly motivated by a desire to punish [him] and justify [the agency's] use of resources in the unsuccessful criminal case.”