Gestifute publishes ´Ronaldo tax compliance´

Cristiano Ronaldo has met all his tax obligations in full according to the company that represents him, with Gestifute publishing what it claims is confirmation of that fact from Spanish financial authorities.

The Real Madrid superstar has been the subject of allegations made in several European media outlets that he avoided paying taxes through structures set up by Gestifute, the company founded by his agent, Jorge Mendes.

Those claims are part of the so-called ‘Football Leaks’, which will see 12 European newspapers publish the findings of what is described as “the largest leak in the history of sport” over the next three weeks.

Gestifute issued a swift denial of the allegations late on Thursday, insisting that Ronaldo is “fully compliant with tax obligations”, and they threatened legal action against any party who insinuated an offence on the part of either the Portugal captain or his agent’s company.

After the Spanish state secretary of the treasury, Jose Enrique Fernandez de Moya, was quoted as saying that the body would take “inspections we consider appropriate” earlier on Saturday, Gestifute released a further statement, in which they insisted that Ronaldo has always operated within tax rules.

The release included an image of a document that appears to be official confirmation from Spain’s Agencia Tributaria that Ronaldo is “aware of all his tax obligations”, as per Spanish law.

That statement read: “After the news that have (sic) been published in the last days on alleged irregularities of Cristiano Ronaldo’s tax declarations we hereby disclosed the official document issued by the Spanish Tax agency confirming that Cristiano Ronaldo is up to date on his obligations, as he has always been in every country where he has played.

“Gestifute insists on taking all legal actions required to defend its interests, the interests of all of its clients, against biased, false and manipulated information.

“When dealing with [its] clients and the authorities, Gestifute has always been fully committed with the observance of the best practices in all the countries in which [it] operates.

“The company’s objective is to provide the best professional advice to its clients in every market, according to the local regulation, as it was and is the case with Cristiano Ronaldo and other clients.

“Cristiano Ronaldo has always acted in good faith in this matter, as the fact that he has never been involved in any conflict with the Tax Authorities from any country where he has lived clearly shows.

“European Tax Agencies have different approaches on image rights regulations. Residents in foreign countries often are affected by these different approaches, that they nevertheless respect and observe. In those cases in which there were disputes with the local authorities, all of them have been satisfactory solved by common agreement without any legal proceedings being opened.”