Ronaldo settles tax case in Spain
Former Real Madrid forward will pay close to €19 million to clear all pending charges against him
MADRID: Spanish tax authorities have given their ok for football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to pay close to 19 million euros to settle a tax fraud claim, prosecutors said Friday.
Prosecutors in Madrid said the deal with tax authorities and Ronaldo’s advisors also includes a two-year jail sentence which he won’t serve. Sentences of up to two years are generally not implemented in Spain for firsttime offenders in non-violent crimes.
The 33-year-old former Real Madrid striker, who has moved to Juventus, appeared in court last July near Madrid to answer four counts of tax evasion. Procecutors allege the five-time Ballon d’or winner hid income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities.
In 2014, Spanish authorities say he was late in declaring that year just 11.5 millions euros of revenue earned in Spain for the period 2011-2014 when his earnings in his country of residence totalled 43 million euros.
The Spanish taxman also found he did not declare 28.4 million euros in image rights agreed for 2015-2020, leaving 14.7 million owing. His legal team had blamed the affair on a simple different interpretation of which revenue he was obliged to declare in Spain. Had the case gone further, without the player offering a full settlement, he could have faced a fine of a reported 28 millions euros as well as a three-and-ahalf-year jail term, according to the Spanish tax office union Gestha.
JUVE DEBUT
Ronaldo will kick his first ball in Serie A at troubled Chievo on the weekend of August 18/19 when new club Juventus begin their bid for a record eighth straight league title.
The fixture list for the 2018-19 season of the Italian championship was announced on Thursday with all eyes on where the superstar attacker, signed for 100 million euros from European champions Real Madrid earlier this month, would begin what he called “a new adventure”.
Spanish prosecutors allege that Ronaldo — now a Juventus player — hid income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities. He is said to have used companies in low-tax foreign jurisdictions — notably the British Virgin Islands and Ireland — to avoid having to pay the tax otherwise due.
The tax authorities also discovered that he did not declare €28.4 million in image rights agreed for 2015-2020.
THE LOOPHOLE
Spanish law states that a first-time offender is not required to serve a prison sentence below two years and many footballers have successfully avoided jail-time using this loophole in the system
Neymar and his parents were prosecuted by Spanish authorities over his transfer from Santos to Barcelona after a complaint from Brazilian investment company DIS. The company, which owned 40 per cent of his image rights at the time, was cheated of around €3.5 million by way of showcasing a false transfer fee between Santos and Barcelona. Santos and Barcelona were also ordered to stand trial in 2017.