Beyoncé Faces Off With IRS Over Nearly $3 Million Penallties

• Beyoncé is challenging the IRS over its assessment of $2.7 million in taxes and penalties.
• The singer alleges the agency rejected over $800,000 in charitable donations, according to the petition.
• She will not have to pay the 20% fee due until after the case has been decided, Forbes reported.

Beyoncé is going up against the Internal Revenue Service in a recent petition filed in United States Tax Court contesting the nearly $2.7 million taxes and penalties the agency alleged she owes.

Earlier this month, the “Break My Soul” singer, 41, petitioned for the court to reconsider a January Notice of Deficiency assessed by the IRS.

The notice claimed Beyoncé owes over $1.4 million in additional tax and over $288,000 in penalty for 2019. For 2018, it alleged the singer owes about $805,000 in additional tax and $161,000 in penalty, according to Forbes.

In her 20-page petition, Beyoncé argues that the agency refused millions of dollars in deductions, including $868,766 attributable to a charitable contribution carryover from 2018. According to the documents, she also alleges that penalties shouldn’t apply to any owed taxes as she “has acted reasonably and in good faith.”

After the January notice was filed, the star had 90 days to file a petition contesting the IRS. Although the agency has assessed that 20% of the underlying amount of tax is due, petitioners usually don’t have to pay until the case has been settled, per Forbes.

No court date has been scheduled as of Saturday afternoon. The lawyer representing Beyoncé — Michael C. Cohen of De Castro, West, Chodorow, Mendler & Glickfeld, Inc. — did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Beyoncé is currently gearing up to kick off her Renaissance tour on May 10. According to Billboard, the tour could make her at least $275 million. 

The megastar isn’t the first celebrity to fight back against claims they owe multimillion tax fines to the government.

In July 2022, prosecutors in Spain charged singer Shakira with six counts of tax fraud and accused the star of failing to pay millions in taxes in Spain. In 2013, Grammy award winner Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three months in prison over tax evasion totaling up to $1.3 million in unpaid fees, Essence reported.