According to some Spanish media, the Spanish Tax Office is claiming Cristiano Ronaldo 8.260.477€ during the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Some tax inspectors think that Cristiano Ronaldo could have committed tax crime.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo showed in 2014 all his contracts, trying to avoid a penalty and he wanted to show that everything was completely clear and legal. Therefore, there is a willingness of paying, so this would avoid the tax crime and Cristiano Ronaldo would pay only a penalty.
Cristiano Ronaldo paid in 2014 €6M to the Spanish Tax Office. The Portuguese striker said after winning La Liga in Málaga that many people think that he’s evil but he’s not a criminal. Only some weeks later, these other news come up, but the player is calm, because he has done everything according to the law.
Totally different is Messi’s situation. He’s been convicted on tax fraud charges. The Supreme Court has rejected his appeal and now he’s facing prison sentence and jail. Messi created a company in Panama to hide his earnings to the Spanish Tax Office, clearly showing that he didn’t want to pay the taxes to the government.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the footballer who earned more in the last season. According to Forbes, the Portuguese striker earned $93M last year, whereas Leo Messi earned $80M according to the same sources. Both now also share problems with the Spanish tax office and they will have to solve these issues to continue showing his quality in the Spanish football.
Cristiano Ronaldo has always said that he has nothing to hide and he’s always done the things correctly, paying his taxes. However, other colleagues, for example Ricardo Carvalho, Radamel Falcao or Fabio Coentrao -all of them are represented by Jorge Mendes– have had problems with the Spanish tax office.