Spanish prosecutors accused Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo of a €14.8M ($16.6M) tax fraud in the "latest case" of a footballer "coming into conflict with the country's tax authorities," according to Tobias Buck of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Forbes estimated Ronaldo's annual pay at $93M, making him the "highest-paid athlete in the world." Spanish prosecutors said that Ronaldo "sought to hide at least a part of that wealth from the country’s tax authorities." They alleged that he "failed to declare earnings, including from the exploitation of his image rights," between '11 and '14, notifying earnings of €11.5M instead of €43M over that period. The prosecutors said in a statement, "The accused made use of a corporate structure created in 2010 to hide from the tax authority income generated in Spain through image rights." They added that Ronaldo "had failed to comply with his tax obligations" in a manner that was both "voluntary" and "conscious." The structure Ronaldo allegedly used "involved setting up a company to manage his image rights in the British Virgin Islands, which then transferred the rights to a second company in Ireland." There was "no immediate response from Ronaldo," but in the past, his agent stated that the footballer is "up to date" with his tax obligations. The case "bears strong similarities" to that of Lionel Messi, who was found guilty of tax fraud by a Spanish court last year and handed a 21-month suspended jail sentence (FT, 6/13).
NO COMMENT: REUTERS' Pinedo & Berwick reported Real Madrid "declined to comment and calls to the agency representing Ronaldo, Gestifute, went unanswered." Between '05 and '10, foreign players in Spain were protected under the so-called "Beckham law," allowing them to "curb their taxes." But as the financial crisis "bit deeper, that exemption was lifted, paving the way for the cases." The prosecutor's office alleged that Ronaldo defrauded the tax authorities of €1.4M in '11, €1.7M in '12, €3.2M in '13 and €8.5M in '14. Ronaldo became a Spanish tax resident in Jan. '10 and in Nov. '11 "opted to follow the Spanish tax regime that applies to foreigners working in Spain," the prosecutors' statement said. It added that he should have paid a tax rate of 24% in '11 and 24.75% in the three following years (REUTERS, 6/13). The EP reported on Monday, the Gestha union, which represents lower-level workers at Spain's tax authority, said that Ronaldo could be fined a minimum of €28M ($31.4M) and "face a prison sentence of seven years" (EP, 6/13).
TEBAS WEIGHS IN: ATLAS reported La Liga President Javier Tebas explained Ronaldo "should be considered innocent until proven guilty." Tebas: "I believe he is innocent. We need to wait to see how things end. I am not going to criminalize a player or anybody until I've seen a court sentence" (ATLAS, 6/13).
