Lionel Messi's foundation scrutinised by Spanish tax authorities

Lionel Messi

Spanish tax authorities are investigating whether payments from FC Barcelona to Lionel Messi's foundation were used to help the player evade taxes, Spanish daily El Mundo reported on Saturday. The newspaper, which has acquired Football Leaks documents, reported that the club gave the foundation "at least 12.7 million euros (R98 crore) between 2010 and 2016".

The paper said that the payments from Barca represented 71.5 per cent of the foundation's revenue between 2013 and 2016. The foundation says on its website that it "was created in 2007 with the wish that all children should have the same opportunities to make their dreams come true, and to promote equality in education and health."

Between 2010 and the official registration of the foundation in June 2013, the club reduced the corporate tax they paid on the money by 35 per cent, in line with rules on donations to charities. Those payments raised the suspicions of the authorities which, in January 2016, began to investigate whether the money had been "remunerative" and evaded corporate and income tax.

In April 2016, tax investigators visited the Barcelona offices. After the official scrutiny began, the club stopped making the deductions from their donations and started withholding 45 per cent for taxes suggesting, the newspaper said, that the payments "were considered part of the salary" of the Argentine star.

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