Spanish tax authorities are seeking to claim a total of €41M ($43M) from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético due to tax debts.
In the latest tax evasion-related headline in football, it's not just the players in trouble with Spanish tax prosecutors, but also the clubs. Real Madrid owes $11.7M and a fine of $5.3M, while Barcelona with $12.7M and a $7.4M fine and Atlético $4.2M and a fine of $2.1M. As well as the big three of La Liga, Sevilla and Valencia are also included as per the newspaper El Confidential, which adds up the total to $52M.
The gist of the claims is the way the clubs handed the payments directly to the agents instead of handing the payment to the players themselves. Since the payment is handed to the agents, the club reduced their VAT and the income of the players, which also reduced their income tax. In short, part of the players' salaries were paid to their agents to reduce their tax. The Spanish treasury aim to recover the lost tax, along with fines for the tax evasion committed, as per AS.
La Liga as the governing body have not yet made any statement regarding the issue, as per Marca. The Spanish professional league did point out the efforts made by the clubs to bring down their debt, as the clubs currently owe $243M in debt compared to $688M three years ago.
The Spanish authorities have been active in taking steps to fight against tax evasion in football, with this report regarding the top clubs of La Liga being one of the recent cases made.
