Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is accused of evading taxes by Spanish prosecutors. The world’s highest paid footballer will now be investigated over the charges as the numbers involved in his tax charges are considerably higher than his compatriot Lionel Messi.
Lionel Messi was given a 21-month prison sentence in his tax evasion evasion after proved guilty of defrauding 4.1 million euros on his image rights between 2007 and 2009.
But the Portuguese captain could have much higher tax charges as he is accused of evading 14,768,897 euros on image rights between 2011 and 2014. The news came on Tuesday from the tax office in Spain as the Real Madrid could be investigated in the coming days.
Here is the breakdown of tax fraud of €14.7 million year by year
2011: €1.39 million
2012: €1.66 million
2013: €3.2 million
2014: €8.5 million
If proven guilty, Ronaldo can be handed 1 to 5 years imprisonment as he was accused to evade more than €120,000 per year which makes it a criminal offense as per the Spanish law. The 32-year old declared an income €11.5 million for the year of 2014. But it is believed, as per the accusation, that his actual income is €43 million as he failed to 28.4 million he received for his image rights.
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)”, Madrid’s public prosecutor’s 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.
Ronaldo is accused of evading tax by using a shell company in British Virgin Islands and Ireland. It is becoming quite common in Spanish football that top players are being accused of tax frauds as Leo Messi was found guilty last year and was sentenced to a 21-month jail sentence and further fined by another €2.09 million.
Barcelona star Neymar is also currently undergoing a trial over tax fraud that was made during his move to Catalan club in the summer of 2013. However, the tax charges involved in Ronaldo’s case are much higher and could see him pay a fine of up to €28 million if found guilty of defrauding tax.