Sergio Ramos, Iniesta, Casillas to be investigated for tax evasion
Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Gerard Pique, among others, are being investigated by Spanish authorities as per suggested reports. The Treasury, in particular, have started to investigate the companies that manage the image rights of players, that really would not do any activity.
15 percent of the remuneration of the club with the image rights of the company can be earned by the players. But the IRS believes that "most of the company created to manage image rights not involved in the actual events. ".
But as of now, as per reports, Spanish tax authorities “for now has not taken into account, under no circumstances, the tax offense”.
The Spanish national team hasn’t been doing quite well since their early exit at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil this year. Both Xabi Alonso and Xavi announced their retirement from the international circuit and Casillas has been on the receiving end of criticism for his recent drop of form.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has also been under the radar for his tax evasion issue for a really long time now. The income related to Messi's image rights, including contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter and Gamble, and the Kuwait Food Company. The footballer and his father are suspected of avoiding paying Spanish tax by using companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to use Messi's image.