Sunday, June 25, 2017

Football cheats

Like many Brits living in Spain, we make an honest declaration each year and pay our taxes on time.

I read somewhere though, that a fair number of Spaniards try every which way to avoid paying their taxes and that many get away with it. Footballers are amongst the highest paid people in the country, especially the super stars that play for the big teams. They are also the biggest cheats when it comes to paying their taxes.

 Here are some examples:

 Lionel Messi and his father were found guilty of tax offences when they failed to declare €10 million in income from image rights, for the period 2007 to 2009. Both were sentenced to 21 months in prison but Messi’s father later saw his sentence reduced to 15 months after being deemed an accessory to those tax crimes. It is now possible that Messi will not go to jail because this is his first offence and he has now paid off his tax debts.

 Manchester United manager (former Real Madrid coach), José Mourinho has also been accused of having failed to pay €3.3 million to Spain’s tax authorities in 2011 and 2012 and for failing to declare income from image rights.

Lastly,  Portugal and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is being accused of a €14.8 million tax fraud by Spanish prosecutors after allegedly having used a shell company in the Virgin Islands to hide image rights income from 2011 to 2014.

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