BREAKING NEWS: Lionel Messi formally charged with tax fraud

Wow, I honestly wonder what will happen. not much because it's Messi I assume.

Unless it's different in Spain... you sign your own tax returns and ignorance is not a defense for not paying taxes. You get advice from accountants and lawyers. But when you put pen to paper, you're the one who's responsible for what you're signing.

If Messi feels wronged by his accountant, he could sue him separately. But the tax fraud itself is all on his shoulders and nobody else's in a legal sense.

You don't go to jail if you can pay the taxes owed and the penalties... tax agencies are looking to get money, not put people in jail if they can help it. He'll just have to pay the monies + a hefty fine.

You only get into serious trouble when it's truly crazy fraud or you lie to the authorities after being caught. Otherwise, as long as you have money, you're ok.

what i mean by "crazy fraud" is taking monies that you haven't paid taxes on and hide them in a secret bank account in Switzerland when it's clear that you're breaking the law... you really can't defend that lol. And even then, unless it's a political problem or they want to make an example out of you, you can usually get out of it by paying up.

But saying that you're not a tax expert and your accountant made a mistake is a good defense for avoiding possible jail time. This is going to be Messi's angle. In these cases, you just pay the monies and the fines... and you're done.

It's all about the story lol.

Barcelona forward, Leo Messi has paid the Spanish tax authorities €10 million for us of his image rights from 2010 and 2011, following official legal proceeding brought against the player for years of tax evasion.

According to Spanish newspaper, La Vanguardia, Messi has made preemptive measures to settle his outstanding tax debts, ahead of new allegations over tax fraud pertaining to his image rights, while still facing formal charges for tax evasions from 2007 to 2009 for the amount of €4.5 million.

La Vanguardia also reports that Messi and his father Jorge, who face one to five years in prison with fines up to six times that of the €4.5 million if convicted, look to reach an out of court settlement with the tax authorities for unpaid amounts from 2007, 2008 and 2009.

According to the Spanish tax authorities, Messi is formally charged with three tax offenses with what they describe as “with the aim of circumventing taxation,” by turning over image rights to “entities located in tax havens (such as Belize and Uruguay) and, in addition, formalising contracts related to licensing, agency or provision of services among these entities and others with addresses of convenience (United Kingdom, Switzerland).”