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Was following this on Spanish TV. Silly boy.
I had seen the story quite a few times, thought he might get fined at most, the Spanish seemed to have traditionally been rather lax on the financial arrangements of the sports stars, footballers especially. I wonder if this is getting tightened up due to the EU investigation into government financial support for football.
Oh great!
This will be easy to explain to my Barca kit wearing, overly bright Adidas footie shoe wearing 8 year old son.
Under Spanish law any sentence under two years can be suspended meaning the Barcelona and Argentina footballer is expected to avoid serving time in prison.
Phew...
Well played Spanish justice.
Hoping they go after Mr Tickle for assault next.
Effectively a suspended sentence, that was fortunate...
The main thing is that the Spanish tax man gets his money and the public knows that their star defrauded his fellow citizens of money they need far more than he does.
Edukator - Reformed Troll
The main thing is that the Spanish tax man gets his money and the public knows that their star defrauded his fellow citizens of money they need far more than he does.
And that, if you've got money, you'll avoid jail time.
It depends on how you view the purpose of jail.
Protecting the public - I don't think he's a danger.
Revenge - this is Spain not the US.
A time for mending of ways - I think employing a different financial advisor would suffice.
A dissuasion to reoffending - the sentence is executed if he is naughty again.
A deterrent to others - a suspended sentence is still highly embarrassing and shameful.
However, neither man is expected to serve time in jail.
Yeah that has been added to the report, it wasn't in the original.
Personally I think tax evasion is treated far too leniently in virtually all countries. The chances of getting caught and the costs there after are far lower than the benefits of doing it.
It's pretty weak no matter how you explain it away.Edukator - Reformed Troll
It depends on how you view the purpose of jail.Protecting the public - I don't think he's a danger.
Revenge - this is Spain not the US.
A time for mending of ways - I think employing a different financial advisor would suffice.
A dissuasion to reoffending - the sentence is executed if he is naughty again.
A deterrent to others - a suspended sentence is still highly embarrassing and shameful.
In France a cosy deal would have been struck with the tax man without it ever going to court so I'm impressed by the Spanish reaction.
Edit: I hadn't noticed a string of UK court cases to bring to justice the pages of UK residents in the Panama papers because it was all done nice and legally even if it was immoral. At least in Spain it's a crime.
The main thing is that the Spanish tax man gets his money
The taxman should have had his money at the right time, without having to go to the expense of criminal investigation and prosecution.
The BBC website is getting very click-baity.
Guardian:
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BBC:
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I'm gob smacked by this thread, people living in the land of tax optimising think that Spain is goin light on the guy when if a Brit had done the same he wouldn't even have a case to answer.
In France a cosy deal would have been struck with the tax man without it ever going to court so I'm impressed by the Spanish reaction.
Almost definitely in the UK and Germany as well, I think (and could well be wrong about this) that in Spain the system allows for an ambitious prosecutor more leeway in pursuing a case that could make his career.
Avoids jail, but sent home for an early bath:
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And that, if you've got money, you'll avoid jail time.
Somewhat surprisingly one of the big folk singers (Isabel Pantoja) here actually got sent to jail for a similar crime, although she was condemned to two years rather than 18 months.
Still, I'll believe the system has truly changed if and when the king's sister gets sent down. Which will never happen.
The boss of the language school I worked for in Barcelona did three years for various financial "frauds", in the UK he'd have just declared himself bankrupt and started all over again. Getting paid required "gentle persuasion" - we got paid, many didn't.
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Getting paid required "gentle persuasion"
I'm gob smacked by this thread, people living in the land of tax optimising think that Spain is goin light on the guy when if a Brit had done the same he wouldn't even have a case to answer.
UK has one of the smallest shadow (black) economies in Europe, 12.5% of GDP compared to 15% in France and 22.5% in Spain.
Would Messi have known how his money was being handled? - I guess ignorance is no defence???
He comes over as a nice, humble guy compared to (thin) Ronaldo's preening peacock but maybe he is not as straightforward as he appears.
As others have said well done to the Spanish tax officials for getting this result. I bet lots of other sports stars are a bit worried.
If you believe the statistics that don't include all the money that's legally off shore.
If you believe the statistics that don't include all the money that's legally off shore.
They back up my experience gained from working in and around international tax for many years.
He comes over as a nice, humble guy compared to (thin) Ronaldo's preening peacock but maybe he is not as straightforward as he appears.
Ronaldo gives a massive amount of money to charity. I believe he pays for a lot of civic amenities in the town he came from. He's consomethinge professional and a great role model for kids. But he does like his hair to be nicely groomed so clearly not a very nice chap.
If you believe the statistics that don't include all the money that's legally off shore.
Those stats are very believable, and there are plenty of rich Spaniards with money off shore too.
UK has one of the smallest shadow (black) economies in Europe, 12.5% of GDP compared to 15% in France and 22.5% in Spain.
I doubt Messi, Rooney or any other seriously rich individual using off shore funds to avoid tax would count as the shadow economy.
...except when he's snatching journalists microphones and throwing them into lakes.Ronaldo gives a massive amount of money to charity. I believe he pays for a lot of civic amenities in the town he came from. He's consomethinge professional
Well if we're posting on the basis of "my experience" England is the place a tradesman is most likely to offer you two prices, one for cash and one with a bill. The consequences of employing a tradesman black in France are suck that most people won't let anyone work on their home without a signed quote, however small the job.
"Voluntary" 5 Million Euro "corrective payment" oops what a silly mistake, lets just correct it!!!
...except when he's snatching journalists microphones and throwing them into lakes.
And journalists, and the media companies they work for, never ever wind people up, ever. As I'm sure you are aware there was history with the company this journalist worked for.
Well if we're posting on the basis of "my experience"
As I said in my post, my experience which is directly in the field is that the statistics which I had previously quoted give a good indication of the prevalence of tax evasion etc.
[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQAELBK2Mqui9a_L6D80dMBi1VCJeSKwea_Xgaw5cbOeLA8RYeSow [/img]
How could you not trust a man who wears dwarf PJs?
My experience is based on living and working in the countries. Book into a B&B in the UK and they'll want cash. Book into a B&B in Spain and they'll want your ID card so they can enter it into the guest register, then they'll hand you the card machine
I never really get the Messi/Ronaldo argument....it is a possibility that they are both bell-ends.
Well book into a few hundred thousand B&Bs and you might have a worthwhile statistic, in the meantime, I think your views can be dismissed as blind prejudice.
Since when was observation prejudice?
I'll dismiss your last post as gratuitous insult, Mefty.
When it comes from someone who frequently slags off the UK.
[url= http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/ad-hoc-queries/miscellaneous/372_emn_ad-hoc_query__registration_at_accommodation_establishments_25jan2012_wider_dissemination.pdf ]Compare Spanish requirements with UK ones.[/url]
Spanish B&B register you and report your presence to the police within 24hrs. There is a state record of every overnight. In the UK no record at all.
The black economy is just that, black and invisible. Estimates of its contribution to GDP are simply estimates as nobody knows how many times a given volume of black money is recycled without being recorded. The scope for cash deals in the UK is rather large. In France it's much harder to find something to spend your black money on unless you have a drug habit. You can't buy a car or a house, will have trouble paying for a holiday - you are much more likely to leave a trace for the tax man.
When it comes from someone who frequently slags off the UK.
Go on then, link/quote away. I do respond when people slag off other countries as very often it's a case of pot kettle black. This thread being a case in point, Spain has prosecuted on the basis of the Panama papers. Let me know when one of the many Brits on the list is given a prison term, suspended or not.
The U.K. Is a liberal democracy - you are entitled to move round without the police knowing - you are also entitled to due process before the law entity used for international transactions.
Governments have very sophisticated techniques for monitoring the tax gap - these tend to be consistent across countries as they share their expertise so in comparison you are comparing apples with apples.