Italy widens F1 tax probe to teams and drivers

Italy’s Guardia di Finanza in Bologna has reportedly opened an early-stage investigation into whether Formula 1 teams and current and recent drivers failed to pay tax on income earned during races at Monza, Imola and Mugello, exposing non-resident teams to claims worth hundreds of millions of euros and some drivers to potential criminal liability.

According to Il Resto del Carlino, the inquiry began after information-gathering activity and an exposé submitted last June by Bologna lawyer Alessandro Mei. The checks are said to be focused on non-resident teams and whether they failed to apply withholding tax on compensation paid to drivers for work carried out in Italy.

Under the system described in the report, foreign athletes competing in Italy must pay tax on income earned there. Il Resto del Carlino said drivers are treated under Italian law as self-employed workers, which means the teams that employ them are supposed to act as withholding agents and remit the relevant tax on race-related earnings.

That team-focused investigation has now reportedly widened. Sources cited by RacingNews365 said the Guardia di Finanza is also investigating all current and recent F1 drivers, despite the fact that neither the drivers nor their teams had previously been asked to pay those taxes.

Those sources said drivers have been contacted by letter and asked to submit income tax returns for the 2025 tax year, then contact the authorities directly or through a representative to discuss the next steps. RacingNews365 also reported that Italian authorities want to pursue unpaid taxes from several previous years where legally possible.

The scrutiny is expected to go well beyond basic filings. RacingNews365 said the authorities want access to driver and sponsorship contracts to examine the relevant income in depth and build what the report described as an accurate picture of earnings linked to races in Italy.

If the alleged omissions are confirmed, Il Resto del Carlino said the unpaid amount due to the Italian state could run into the hundreds of millions of euros. For individual drivers, the stakes could be sharper still. The reports said that if unpaid tax exceeds €50,000, it can be treated in Italy as a criminal offence, bringing fines on top of any back-tax recovery.

The investigation also appears to sit within a broader push by Italian authorities. Il Resto del Carlino said it adds to similar audits by the Courts of Auditors in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, the three regions linked to F1’s recent Italian races. That raises the prospect that what began as a technical tax question around race-weekend earnings could become a significant legal and financial issue across the F1 paddock.