Cristiano Ronaldo reveals stunning €204 million income abroad to deny tax fraud claims
As Cristiano Ronaldo's representatives fight back against allegations of tax fraud, on Thursday they took the extraordinary step of releasing his 2015 foreign income as evidence he paid his owed taxes – which shows he earned a whopping €203.8 million outside of Spain last year.
Ronaldo is one of several stars to be implicated in a massive leak of soccer contracts and reports have alleged Ronaldo moved €63.5 million to the Virgin Islands to avoid paying taxes. But on Thursday, Gestifute, his management company, released a tax form they say proves Spanish tax authorities are aware of all his assets. The form shows the Real Madrid star declared total earnings and assets of €203.8 million abroad for 2015, which breaks down to a stunning value of €17 million per month on average or about €4 million per week.
"This document confirms that tax authorities have knowledge of all assets and revenues of Cristiano Ronaldo," the statement said. "The player will not make further statements on the subject."
It remains to be seen if they can get away without saying anything else, though. A website known as Football Leaks has released a huge trove of two terabytes of data to 12 European newspapers, and reporters are still combing through the documents. Gestifute, which represents Ronaldo and previously represented manager Jose Mourinho, is accused of setting up a financial structure using foreign tax havens that allowed both Ronaldo and Mourinho to avoid paying taxes.
The reports stemming from the breach of documents don't appear to be stopping anytime soon. Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has faced similar allegations of tax fraud while it was revealed this week that Mario Balotelli's contract with Liverpool allegedly included some strange clauses that gave him generous bonuses for what is usually expected behavior.
