Why do so many players get done for tax fraud in Spain?

[tex123]

Latest news on Arantxa Sanchez Vicario:

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario: Former world number one gets two-year suspended sentence for fraud

Former world number one Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is handed a suspended two-year jail sentence for fraud.

www.bbc.co.uk

But then we've had Messi and Ronaldo both settled cases with Spanish tax authorities. Dani Alves actually won the case against the tax authorities. What's the deal? I don't see such high profile cases in the UK which has the richest clubs in the world.

 

[weakera]

They should just defer their prize money until they can more conveniently live in a tax haven like Shohei Ohtani

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Didn't Sanchez Vicario's parents blow her entire fortune like over a decade ago?

 

[aldeayeah]

I imagine those people tried evading taxes via mechanisms that used to go undetected (such as routing their income through shell corporations), but then the taxing authorities got smart and went medieval on their asses.

Probably not the players' fault but of their entourage/money-handling staff.

 

[aldeayeah]

Didn't Sanchez Vicario's parents blow her entire fortune like over a decade ago?

Yep she's broke.

 

[aldeayeah]

Nadal himself had to settle for an undisclosed account more than 10 years ago because he was routing part of his income through a Basque Country-based corporation (which has some tax haven-like regulations).

Of course, rather than Rafa, the fault most probably lied with Sebastián, Rafa's dad and the entrepreneurial mastermind of the family.

 

[TheSlicer]

Because here the politicians blow the public money like crazy, so we dont feel the urge to be good citizens and pay every tax religiously

 

[vernonbc]

Nadal himself had to settle for an undisclosed account more than 10 years ago because he was routing part of his income through a Basque Country-based corporation (which has some tax haven-like regulations).

Of course, rather than Rafa, the fault most probably lied with Sebastián, Rafa's dad and the entrepreneurial mastermind of the family.

Rafa ALWAYS, ALWAYS, paid full taxes in Mallorca on his tennis earnings income. He paid them millions and millions of euros instead of moving to a tax shelter like Monaco.

Yes, he did put some of his off-court sponsorship earnings into government approved tax shelters for a couple of years. The government subsequently decided the investments didn't meet all the requirements and removed their stamp of approval. Rafa and his dad and his accounting firm immediately paid the taxes due and consolidated that line of tax reporting.

Nobody was "at fault". The private tax experts hired by rich people like the Nadals have a duty to their clients to wisely invest their money. It's done every day around the world and Rafa has very experienced ethical people working with him to manage his money. With his hotels and resorts and restaurants and tennis centres and tennis academies around the world, the guy must have a whole financial branch working for him.

 

[Bartelby]

The King of Spain, a friend of you know who, abdicated and fled the country.

 

[jm1980]

Rafa ALWAYS, ALWAYS, paid full taxes in Mallorca on his tennis earnings income. He paid them millions and millions of euros instead of moving to a tax shelter like Monaco.

Yes, he did put some of his off-court sponsorship earnings into government approved tax shelters for a couple of years. The government subsequently decided the investments didn't meet all the requirements and removed their stamp of approval. Rafa and his dad and his accounting firm immediately paid the taxes due and consolidated that line of tax reporting.

Nobody was "at fault". The private tax experts hired by rich people like the Nadals have a duty to their clients to wisely invest their money. It's done every day around the world and Rafa has very experienced ethical people working with him to manage his money. With his hotels and resorts and restaurants and tennis centres and tennis academies around the world, the guy must have a whole financial branch working for him.

This is a very creative way of excusing Nadal's tax avoidance scheme:

After a long and private match that lasted more than two years, Rafael Nadal has finally lost out to the tax authorities. The tennis player has been forced to move his company headquarters from the Basque Country to the Balearic Islands, and pay back millions of euros he was saving by doing business out of a region with a special tax rate of just one percent. The regular state corporate tax rate is 30 percent.

The taxman catches up with Rafael Nadal

Tennis star moves business headquarters from Basque Country Companies were saving millions of euros thanks to special tax breaks

english.elpais.com

 

[Bartelby]

To put it optimistically, Spain's tax authorities are probably more diligent. The local attitude here is to let them get away with it if we can compel a minor repayment.

 

[tex123]

Still does not answer the question. Why Spain? It can't be that all high profile tax cheaters settle in Spain. We don't get these sort of cases in Britain or US or anywhere else.

 

[ALCARAZWON]

Still does not answer the question. Why Spain? It can't be that all high profile tax cheaters settle in Spain. We don't get these sort of cases in Britain or US or anywhere else.

Which of those countries have the highest tax rates?
I've heard Spain's is really high, so that might be a factor.
Plus as said earlier, maybe Spain's authorities are more aggressive.

 

[ChaelAZ]

It's actually a corrupt Spain Ministerio de Justicia, lead by the Sahnchez crime family to block their leading political opponent, who is winning...winning by a lot...in a witch hunt because of woke ideaology and getting millions from CHiiiiina while suffering from TDS, tennis derangement syndrome.

 

[Fabresque]

Rafa ALWAYS, ALWAYS, paid full taxes in Mallorca on his tennis earnings income. He paid them millions and millions of euros instead of moving to a tax shelter like Monaco.

Yes, he did put some of his off-court sponsorship earnings into government approved tax shelters for a couple of years. The government subsequently decided the investments didn't meet all the requirements and removed their stamp of approval. Rafa and his dad and his accounting firm immediately paid the taxes due and consolidated that line of tax reporting.

Nobody was "at fault". The private tax experts hired by rich people like the Nadals have a duty to their clients to wisely invest their money. It's done every day around the world and Rafa has very experienced ethical people working with him to manage his money. With his hotels and resorts and restaurants and tennis centres and tennis academies around the world, the guy must have a whole financial branch working for him.

Very very quick to defend him... hmmm.

 

[NeutralFan]

Spain has one of the highest tax rate in Europe, a lot more than UK.

 

[norcal]

Still does not answer the question. Why Spain? It can't be that all high profile tax cheaters settle in Spain. We don't get these sort of cases in Britain or US or anywhere else.

Can't speak for UK but here in the US there's all sorts of rich celebs and sportsmen getting busted for tax charges...Of course Trump wants to downsize the IRS so his rich friends can get away with more tax cheating...

 

[TripleATeam]

I'm guessing Spain's actually charging these folks and perhaps has tighter tax laws. Tons of tax avoidance in the US, too, just barely legal (or well enough hidden).