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Marketing and Sponsorship

Cristiano Ronaldo Allegedly Using Irish Company To Dodge Spanish Taxes

Cristiano Ronaldo could become "the Spanish tax authorities' next target," according to SPORT. According to El Confidencial, "the Real Madrid star has been invoicing for most of his advertising revenues through an Irish company," Multisports & Image Management Ltd., in which the name of the player does not appear. MIM Ltd. was incorporated in '04, with "no apparent relation with Cristiano Ronaldo," and with its fiscal base in Dublin. Ireland is the European country with the lowest corporation tax, around 12.5%, so the Portuguese int'l "would have saved a lot of money" with this maneuver. Ireland is considered practically "a tax haven" by experts. Spain's tax authorities do not "take kindly" to image rights going through a country other than the residence of said person, given they consider that all income must go through IRPF (personal income tax). Taking into account that Ronaldo resides in Madrid, he "should have paid taxes of 43.5% of the advertising revenue generated." Even though Ronaldo's name does not appear in any of the company's records, "Cristiano Ronaldo" and "Cristiano Ronaldo Legacy" are registered trademarks owned by MIM. If Spain's tax authorities investigate the case, Ronaldo "could encounter another problem." If the player has declared in Spain his relationship with MIM, the subject "could be closed by administrative routes and with an economic fine." If he did not declare the relationship, the issue could go "the criminal route, implying a jail sentence in the case of being found guilty" (SPORT, 12/1). MARCA reported Ronaldo has reportedly used MIM for "his image rights earnings from deals with, among others, Nike, Toyota, KFC, Unilever, and Konami." An official spokesperson from Ronaldo's camp has stated that "the player has been aware of his tax obligations since beginning his career, is not currently and has never been in trouble with the Treasury, and manages his image rights according to current legislation" (MARCA, 12/1). In Dublin, Mark Paul reported German Member of the European Parliament Sven Giegold has "accused Ireland of 'tax dumping'" after it was revealed that Ronaldo used an Irish company for "many of his commercial contracts," instead of a company in "higher-tax" Spain. Giegold said, "No surprise ... it comes as no surprise that the company is located in Ireland given the country’s low corporate tax rate." He called for a minimum corporate tax rate across Europe to prevent a "race to the bottom" (IRISH TIMES, 12/1).

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