The one person most rich people detest is the taxman. If in doubt, ask any of the guys pictured above. It is therefore hardly surprising that the taxman and the rich man often play hide-and-seek with each other. Most times, the taxman, with his eagle eyes, achieves great victories.
It is a mark of the victories of the taxman that three of the biggest names in soccer have now been given jail terms for offences connected to their image rights. However, the chances are that none of Lionel Messi, Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo will see the inside of a cell as, under Spanish law, a sentence of under two years for a first offence can be served under probation.
In the case of Mourinho, when he reached a deal with Spain’s tax authorities to accept a one-year prison term for tax evasion, he also agreed to pay a fine of nearly €2 million. This was after he admitted that he had taken action “to render opaque the benefits derived from his image rights” and had knowingly reported information on his finances “that does not correspond to reality”.
Mourinho, Ronaldo and Messi had used shell companies in offshore territories such as the British Virgin Islands, Ireland, and Panama to conceal their earnings from image rights.
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