Mourinho rejects tax fraud claims
Former Real manager in £3m image rights probe Portuguese reveals £23m payments in statement
Jose Mourinho last night took the unprecedented step of publishing a redacted certificate of compliance issued to him personally by the Spanish tax authorities in a response to their latest allegation that he committed fraud by evading payments of €3.3million (£2.9million) between 2011 and 2012.
The Manchester United manager said in a separate statement that during his three years in charge of Real Madrid, between 2010 and 2013, he had paid income tax at an average rate of 41 per cent, contributing around €26 million to the Kingdom of Spain public purse.
Mourinho was named yesterday, following Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Radamel Falcao, Javier Mascherano and Ángel Di María as foreign nationals who have worked in Spain and found themselves under investigation or prosecuted by the Spanish tax authorities.
On the website of his management company, Gestifute, Mourinho published personal certificates from the Agencia Estatal de la Administracion Tributaria that covered the tax years of 2010 to 2013, both of them ostensibly confirming that he had complied with all requirements to pay tax.
The Gestifute statement said: “Jose Mourinho has not received any notification with regards to the news published today. To this date, neither the Spanish tax authorities, nor the public prosecutor, have contacted Jose Mourinho or his advisers who were hired for the inspection process.
“Jose Mourinho, who lived in Spain from June 2010 until May 2013, paid more than €26 million in taxes, with an average tax rate over 41 per cent, and accepted the regularisation proposals made by the Spanish tax authorities in 2015 regarding the years of 2011 and 2012 and entered into a settlement agreement regarding 2013.
“The Spanish government in turn, through the tax department, issued a certificate in which it attested that he had regularised his position and was in compliance with all his tax obligations.”
Mourinho is alleged to have been charged on the basis of an image rights agreement, to obtain what the prosecutor declared was an “illicit benefit”.
He was notified in 2014 that he was under investigation, which gave the Spanish authorities a longer period of time to complete their inquiries.
The allegations that Ronaldo defrauded the Spanish revenue of €14.7million also related to image rights and have prompted the suggestion that he will leave Real Madrid this summer, although potential destination clubs are treating that with caution.
There have been reports in Spain that Ronaldo would be prepared to fight the case in court and risk the far more severe penalties were he to be found guilty.
Ronaldo is due to testify personally in court on July 31, where he will face a judge with expertise in taxation law. The likelihood is that the case will be adjourned for up to 18 months to allow the judge a detailed read through of the case before a verdict is reached. The convention in Spanish law is for such cases to be tried by a judge rather than a jury.
The Spanish tax office can investigate alleged fraud up to four years back in its records. The Spanish tax year runs, unlike in Britain, over the course of a normal calendar year, ending on Dec 31. However, tax returns can be returned up to six months after the end of the tax year which give a de facto extension to the powers of investigation.
Meanwhile, Fifa has cleared United of any wrongdoing over the world record £89 million transfer last year of Paul Pogba but has opened disciplinary proceedings against the midfielder’s former club Juventus. Fifa investigated after reports suggested Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola would receive more than £41million as part of the transfer.