Cristiano Ronaldo is not involved in any tax irregularities or avoidance according to Gestifute, the company owned by his agent Jorge Mendes.
A report published in Thursday's edition of Spanish newspaper El Confidencial claimed the Portuguese superstar used a process known as 'tax dumping' – by avoiding being registered in the higher-taxed Spain he went through a company that was based in the Republic of Ireland for many of his commercial contracts.
Gestifute have since released a press statement to categorically deny these allegations and stressed that neither Ronaldo nor Jose Mourinho – the Manchester United boss who is also a client of the company – have been involved in any legal procedure to regulate the commission of any tax offence while also warning that they would take any accusation of this nature to court.
The tax rate in Ireland for such deals is 12.5%, compared to 56% in Spain.
El Confidencial published a document which appeared to show Ronaldo using Multisports Image Management – a Dublin-based image rights company – to conclude a deal in 2012 with Mobily, a Saudi mobile phone company.
