Lionel Messi is to face trial over an alleged €4.1m tax fraud after a Barcelona court turned down an appeal made by his lawyers aimed at avoiding him having to sit in the dock.
According El Pais, the court felt there was evidence that the Barcelona forward “benefited” from a network of companies that allowed him to defraud the Spanish Tax Agency of €3.4m in income tax, regardless of whether he had any knowledge of the structures in place. Both father and son deny the allegations.
They are suspected of using companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to use Lionel Messi’s image, thereby circumventing tax obligations in Spain. The allegations date back to 2007-09.
In August, Jorge Messi made a payment of €5m to the tax authorities – the €4.1m of the alleged unpaid tax plus interest.
Lionel Messi has previously stated that he and and his father “have never committed any infringement. We have always fulfilled all our tax obligations”.
Messi’s net salary from Barcelona is said to be about €16m a year plus multi-million endorsements with commercial sponsors around the world.
He has ended a successful club season in which Barcelona clinched the treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League and has now joined up with Argentina for the Copa America.
