Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Messi denies tax fraud claims
Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has denied any wrongdoing after it was reported that both he and his father are being sued by the Spanish authorities for millions of euros in unpaid taxes related to the player's image rights.
Barcelona's El Periodico said the attorney involved has told the newspaper that Messi and his father Jorge deliberately hid commercial revenues from the Spanish authorities from 2006 through to 2009 by channelling the income through front companies in tax havens.
The paper reports the amount owed as €13 million, though other media has the figure being sought by the authorities as €4 million.
But now Messi has issued a statement on his Facebook page to deny the claims.
It read: "We have just known through the media about the claim filed by the Spanish tax authorities. We are surprised about the news, because we have never committed any infringement. We have always fulfilled all our tax obligations, following the advice of our tax consultants, who will take care of clarifying this situation."
Barcelona's El Periodico said the attorney involved has told the newspaper that Messi and his father Jorge deliberately hid commercial revenues from the Spanish authorities from 2006 through to 2009 by channelling the income through front companies in tax havens.
The paper reports the amount owed as €13 million, though other media has the figure being sought by the authorities as €4 million.
But now Messi has issued a statement on his Facebook page to deny the claims.
It read: "We have just known through the media about the claim filed by the Spanish tax authorities. We are surprised about the news, because we have never committed any infringement. We have always fulfilled all our tax obligations, following the advice of our tax consultants, who will take care of clarifying this situation."
