Xavi will go to the Supreme Court over millionaire dispute with the Treasury

Judges of the disputed Administrative Chamber’s Fourth Division declared victory, albeit partial, at the beginning of October in a decision that this newspaper has access to for the first time.

It details how Technician transferred his tax through a company in his nameReducing the tax base, as protected by the treasury, and therefore reducing the taxes that must be paid on this income. The decision, whose sole purpose is to gain tax advantages, is explained as a “simulation”.

But as in other cases – Dani Alves, for example, escaped prison for paying several million euros for a similar issue – the justice system admits in its recent decisions that there were errors in reviewing what image rights should be. taxed and therefore canceled agreements that he considered wrong.

Treasury demanded 2.5 million euros in the Xavi Hernández case Corporation tax Only parts of 2013 and 2014 were cancelled. Sources close to the coach express their optimism about the process, saying in front of this newspaper, “We do not want to talk about the amounts in order not to hinder the appeal process, which is still open.”

Despite this victory, Xavi claimed a few more things with which the National Court disagreed with him: Because his judges do not think he is right, for example, when discussing how the taxes paid to him by Barça should be stopped.

They also disagree with him that, in the view of the Treasury and the National Tribunal, the fact that Barcelona paid Xavi’s representative agency to carry out work for the footballer’s benefit was a “simulation” with “the sole purpose”. “This was the tax advantage of the then Euro 2012 champion and the club.”

“Parties achieve their goals [Xavi] declares a smaller amount of business income and the club can deduct input VAT that would otherwise be lost,” the decision explains, pointing out that this is “an artificial mechanism that necessarily requires intent and knowledge.”

Invoicing of payments

The two years examined are, in practice, Xavi’s last two years at Barcelona Football Club; because in May 2015 he announced that he was leaving the club of his life to play football. Taste. There he retired permanently from the playing field in 2019 and also started his career as a coach before returning to Camp Nou.

The sentence, dated to the beginning of October, includes how the player used it at the time. Galileu 136, SLA company that he owns almost 100% to “exclusively manage image rights and revenue derived from them throughout the national territory.”

By understanding the inspectors tax authorities It was stated that this formula was used to reduce the tax base and therefore compromise agreements were made for a total of 2.5 million euros to pay less tax. Given this situation, Xavi appealed the decision. Central Administrative Economic Court In the ordinary justice system, which disagreed with him (TEAC) in 2019 and then partially agreed with him.

Confuse the origin of money

The proposed settlement of 2.5 million euros, which the National Court annulled by decision, referred to the valuation at market price of operations connected to the business triangle formed by Galileu, Barcelona and Xavi.

He did this, as he had done to his former teammates before. Iniesta And PuyolBecause the National Court judges considered that Xavi was right to claim that the Tax Office had made an error in classifying the payments made by the club because these payments did not exceed legally permissible limits.

An argument the justice has agreed with him in the past, he has also had to turn to the courts for almost a million euros in compensation, which the Treasury claimed for the same reason, but this case was from 2009 to 2012.