If Cristiano Ronaldo is convicted, will he go to prison for years? Will he pay millions because of his tax fraud investigation? Today, I’ll tell you exactly what Ronaldo did to mitigate his tax impact – and how you can do it better, much better. If you’re an international football player or a businessman, watch this video to the end. It’s possible that your international tax-evasion solution is a ticking time bomb and that you’re risking going to prison and losing millions of your money.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has taken benefits from a privilege named the “Beckham Law” or “Lex Beckham”. It was adopted under Conservative Prime Minister José María Aznar (1996 to 2004) and was originally intended to lure non-Spanish business leaders – so-called expats – to the Iberian Peninsula. When they move to Spain, they are subject to an income tax rate of only 24,5% instead of 50% or more. It was named after the English football star David Beckham because foreign players also fell under the law, and Beckham was the pioneer. The Beckham Law was abolished for sport stars at the end of 2014.

Cristiano Ronaldo Tax Fraud & Evasion in Detail

Ronaldo’s international taxation trick consisted of selling and transferring all his expected future income based on his intellectual property rights – also known as IP rights – before 31 December 2014. The income streams from 1 January 2015 until 1 January 2020 are collected now by a British Virgin Island offshore company controlled by a third party. He realized tax savings of 25%.

According to the Swiss press, the CEO of Bank Mirabaud, Mr. Antonio Palma, was aware of this transaction. According to rumours in the Swiss private banking industry, the British Virgin Island company had a bank account with Bank Mirabaud. This bank account was used to execute the forward transaction with Ronaldo’s intellectual property rights. Palma, who has Spanish origins, supervised the account opening process. A proper opening procedure for an ordinary account with big amounts can take weeks or even months. According to the famous banking blog “Insideparadeplatz”, Ronaldo’s new bank accounts were opened within a couple of days. The direct intervention from Palma, a true football fan, accelerated the process.

The most important question in the tax fraud or the tax evasion investigations against Ronaldo will be whether such a transaction is credible and has a real economic background with existing contracts and contracting parties, or, if the transaction with expected income from IP rights was fabricated. The Spanish tax authorities are under serious risk of shooting from the hip if the transaction is genuine.

Ronaldo is responding casually to journalists’ invasive questions regarding the tax fraud allegations. He is convinced that his transaction was handled by professionals and that everything is legal. We will see.

The Example of Cristiano Ronaldo Tax Fraud of international taxation

This example shows how important it is to have the support of experienced professionals in international taxation matters. If the work of Ronaldo’s professionals and bankers fails to pass the verification process, he will have to pay huge fines and risk a prison sentence. Anyway, in Spain there is always room for negotiation with the Spanish tax authorities. Ronaldo’s worst-case scenario is to pay a few million EUR based on a future tax deal and a subsequent settlement with the Spanish authorities.

Bank Mirabaud should be careful to avoid making headlines. Reputation is everything for a private bank. It needs decades to build up an impeccable reputation – and only hours to destroy it.

Of course, Bank Mirabaud will argue that it did everything right. The bank will argue that helping rich people and celebrities to mitigate their tax impacts is not a crime.

But times have changed. The Spaniards see it differently. The French and the Germans, too. Europe’s governments and law-enforcement authorities want to prove to their poor citizens that the rich are not above the law. There is zero tolerance for tax fraud and tax evasion.

The typical Swiss mentality and understanding is based on something else. We do not interfere in personal matters. In Switzerland, taxes are considered a purely private issue.

The Cristiano Ronaldo case shows that a Swiss bank operating with celebrities and other exposed customers is not protected, even if Bank Mirabaud has nothing to fear in Switzerland.

If you are an international football player or an international businessman who wants to be 100% sure that you will not end up in prison and pay millions of EUR in penalties, grab your mobile phone and give me a call now at the following number: +41 44 212 44 04.

It’s never too early for good advice, but it’s often too late. Let’s discuss your issue now – free of charge. Be rich and stay rich. I wish you a wonderful day.