By Paul Nicholson
June 14 – The dispute in Spain over how much tax was payable on the transfer of Neymar from Santos in Brazil to FC Barcelona in 2013 appears to have been resolved with the club agreeing to pay a €5.5 million fine.
The dispute had been over how much the value of the transfer was and whether it had been deliberately understated with the view to avoiding tax. By agreeing to pay the fine Barcelona are basically admitting to tax fraud thought they prefer to call it ‘mistake’.
“We have had to accept paying a €5.5 million fine due to a mistake in the 2011 and 2013 tax planning in the signing of Neymar,” said Bracelona president Josep Bartomeu.
Barcelona had already made a voluntary tax payment of €13.5 million in 2014 after being charged with tax fraud over the transfer, but denied any wrongdoing at the time. Barcelona say the paid €57 million for Neymar which was split €40 million to Neymar’s parents and €17 million to Santos. However, Spanish investigators say that actually the real fee was €83 million. Barcelona have paid the fine rather than appealing and taking the case to court.
While this tax case may now be over for Barcelona, it may not be over for Neymar and his father who are also being investigated over alleged tax fraud, which they deny. They are in a similar situation to Lionel Messi and his father who currently in court for alleged tax offences in Spain. There are clear parallels between the cases and how the players handled their money.
Neymar already has a conviction for tax fraud, having been sentenced in March in Brazil and ordered to pay €45.9 million in fines and back-taxes.
The verdict, passed by an administrative judge in Rio de Janeiro, found him guilty of tax evasion for failing to report earnings from a number of lucrative endorsement contracts.
The judge examining the case alleged that false contracts were created to avoid paying the full taxes. Last year the court had already frozen some of Neymar’s assets, a result of the allegations of tax evasion, including his private jet.
Neymar used his businesses, Neymar Sport e Marketing, N & N Consultoria and N & N Administracao de Bens, between 2012 and 2014 to misappropriate his earnings, according to court documents.
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