Back to the Track

Dick Lang '56 will be back on the auto racing circuit after the rare experience of winning a bout with the Internal Revenue Service. His victory is reported in the February issue of "Sports Car" by a quote from the favorable decision of the Federal Tax Court and by a letter from Dick.

The trial of the Lang Chevrolet Company has made it official: sports car racing for business reasons is an ordinary expense of an auto dealer.

As Dick explains, he had been forced since 1964 to discontinue racing Corvettes sponsored by his father's Chevrolet dealerships because the IRS not only refused to recognize his racing expenses as a corporation tax deduction but moreover said such expenses were taxable as corporate constructive dividends and also as personal income.

The Lang case was the first of its kind ever to reach trial, and, as Dick points out, "If we had lost, many sponsored racers might have eventually found themselves in trouble with the IRS."

Dick, who has long been an avid racer both for business and personal reasons, must enjoy one Court comment: "The mere fact that Richard enjoyed racing is not fatal so long as there's a business reason for the expense."