Britney Spears net worth explored as singer in a legal battle with IRS over $600K in alleged unpaid taxes

Britney Spears has responded to the IRS who had previously accused her of underpaying her taxes for the year 2021. The IRS alleged that Spears owes $600,000 in unpaid taxes, as per Billboard. The singer has now filed a legal response, in which she claims that the IRS has made a mistake in calculations, and she does not owe any unpaid taxes.

Britney Spears’ current net worth is $40 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Over the years, the Oops I Did it Again singer has built her wealth through the sales of her albums, music tours, launching a fragrance line, in addition to endorsement deals.

According to Parade, Spears seemingly earned advances amounting to $10 million from her albums when her music career was at its peak.

The news outlet also notes that the pop star has toured 10 times since 1999, with each of her nearly sold-out shows earning roughly between $300,000 and $4 million.

Baby One More Time has officially hit 1 billion streams on @Spotify! 🤯🌹 Thank you to all the fans who've listened for so many years !!!

Listen on Spotify's Billion Club playlist here: https://t.co/NLNmiILTHi#BabyOneMoreTime #BillionsClub #1BStreams #Spotify pic.twitter.com/K0NaKOeylp

— Britney Spears 🌹🚀 (@britneyspears) January 13, 2025

Spears also earned a considerable income from her fragrance line. In 2004, her perfume Curious earned about $100 million, reported Instyle, as per Newsweek.

The singer then went on to earn $52 million from her partnership with Elizabeth Arden, in addition to releasing 26 other fragrances.

Parade reports that Spears’ wealth also profited from her appearance as a judge for a season of The X Factor, for which she earned $15 million.

She also reportedly earned a huge amount from her Las Vegas residency from 2013 to 2017, which earned $137.6 million from more than 900,000 tickets sold.

In addition to numerous endorsement deals and real estate, Spears’ also earned a considerable income from her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me. As per Parade, she received an advance of $12.5 million for the book, and also bagged 25% of its net profits.

About Britney Spears’ legal tussle with the IRS

Back in September, the IRS accused Britney Spears of underpaying her taxes for the year 2021, and alleged that she owes $600,000 in unpaid taxes in addition to a significant penalty.

As per Billboard, the pop star has now responded to the allegations in a U.S. Tax Court petition filed on December 18, in which she claims she filed her taxes correctly.

While claiming that the 2021 tax filing was indeed correct, Spears’ lawyers, as per Billboard, wrote,

“The commissioner erred in determining that any part of any underpayment was due to negligence or disregard of rules and regulation.”

TMZ reports that Britney Spears is currently in a legal dispute with the IRS.

The battle allegedly started after Britney challenged a Claim of Deficiency sent by the IRS, which claimed that she owed $600,000 extra for the 2021 tax year. pic.twitter.com/W2iUu1aKDF

— Pop Flop (@ThePopFlop) December 19, 2025

According to TMZ, which obtained access to Spears’ filing, the singer claimed that the calculations made by the IRS in determining that she underpaid her taxes were wrong.

Spears petitioned that the IRS made a mistake while adjusting her income from Shiloh Standing Inc., a company created by her father when she was under conservatorship.

The news outlet noted that the IRS mistakenly calculated her income from Shiloh Standing Inc. by $1,390,922.

The singer also claimed in her petition that the IRS incorrectly adjusted her deductions by $334,372, reported TMZ. In her filing, Spears alleged that she has the evidence to back her claims in the form of receipts.

Complex notes that Spears also challenged IRS’ penalty of $120,143.80.

According to Billboard, the IRS claimed that Spears actually paid $737,000 in income taxes when she had to pay the amount of $1.3 million.