Madrid: Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo was on Tuesday accused of evading 14.7 million euros in tax through offshore companies, the latest footballer to fall foul of fiscal authorities in Spain.
The 32-year-old — the world’s highest paid athlete according to Forbes magazine — Lionel Messi, who was found guilty of the same offence last year although the sums were allegedly smaller.
The issue of tax evasion has caused anger in a country only just emerging from a damaging economic crisis that has seen countless people lose their jobs and inequalities rise.
Ronaldo is accused of “four crimes against the public treasury between 2011-14... Which involves tax fraud of 14,768,897 euros ($16.5m, £12.9m)”, the office said in a statement.
“The accused took advantage of a company structure created in 2010 to hide income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities, which is a ‘voluntary’ and ‘conscious’ breach of his fiscal obligations in Spain,” it said.
Prosecutors accuse the Ronaldo of evading tax via a shell company based in the British Virgin Islands and another in Ireland, known for its low corporate tax rate.
In addition, they say he only declared 11.5 million euros of Spanish-related income from 2011 to 2014, while what he really earned during that time was close to 43 million euros. And finally, they accuse him of “voluntarily” refusing to include 28.4 million euros in income linked to the sale of his image rights for the 2015 to 2020 period to a Spanish company.
Football scandals
The football world in Spain has been rocked by charges of tax evasion or corruption pressed against some of its top stars. Messi was sentenced to a 21-month jail sentence and 2.09-million-euro fine last year. The prison term will likely be suspended as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.
