Spurred on by the Spanish tax authority successfully relieving Cristiano Ronaldo of €18.8 million in back taxes and fines, the Portuguese tax authority confirmed today that it has been investigating the tax affairs of footballers based at Portugal's top clubs.
The taxman has been tightening control on the business side of football that involved players and coaches and currently is assessing 90 cases its investigations have given cause for suspicion, especially in the areas of transfers and players' image rights.
The 90 cases in question were confirmed today by the Ministry of Finance in its annual report on combating fraud and tax evasion.
Under scrutiny are suspicions and abusive tax planning schemes used in the transfers of players and their rights. The existence of a cascade of companies to hide taxable income also is being pursued.
The Treasury intends to determine whether all such transfers and contracts have been legal or not.
The report reads that since 2016, tax authority inspectors have been following the seven largest Portuguese clubs and the aggressive tax planning that often surrounds multi-million euro transfers, advertising deals and salaries.
