Footballer Girona F.C. Oriole Romeo “evaded” two parts of the Treasury Department sanctions because, according to Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJCat), “advanced tax knowledge of the taxpayer” cannot be assumed. The facts focus on 2014, when the player was owned by Chelseawas loaned in Valencia Club and the Vfb Stuttgart German.
That year, he defended the Spanish tax authorities in documents to which he had access Spanish newspaperThe 23-year-old has yet to pay his share of wealth tax or personal income tax (IRPF).
He confirms tax authority In the court documents of the case, Romeo received around 2014 2 million euros916,667 euros from Stuttgart, 742,065 euros from Valencia, and 294,875 euros from Stuttgart. Chelsea. In addition, at that time it was deposited in assets worth 1,778,771 euros in Spain and 1,724,237 euros abroad, that is, between Germany and the United Kingdom. In all, more than 3.5 million euros.
Romeo was signed in 2011 by Chelsea, a club that two years later decided to loan him to Valencia. He was there for a season, and that summer, namely on August 4, 2014, the player headed to the Bundesliga.
“advanced knowledge”
The loophole through which justice considers the player I didn’t have to know where to pay This income depended on the fact that, by residing in three different countries during the same year, he did not have the necessary “advanced tax knowledge” to know.
In order for a person to have to pay taxes in a particular country, he has to reside in it for more than half the year, i.e. 183 days, although, as in the case of Cantrano earlier in F.C.Bhe Change of residence on a regular basisthe place where you spent the most time or your usual place of residence.
In this way, it was established that in 2014 the footballer was now in Girona at least 172 days in Spainand 30th in the UK and 131st in Germany. It is not known where he was during the remaining 32 days to reach the 365 that make up a year, explains the sentence that this newspaper has been able to reach, since The examination was not able to determine this and the athlete did not want to explain it Although he was asked on several occasions.
From ImagoSport, the representative agency that works with the footballer, they maintain before EL PERIDICO DE ESPAÑA that “Auriol Romeo has always fulfilled his tax obligations” and that he is “awaiting” the final resolution of the case after “partially winning” the appeal to the judge.
Sanctions proposals
That year of 2014, Romeo had an open dispute with the Treasury over a personal income tax of €73,077 and a proposed fee for taxing his assets, which, adding back-to-back late payment interest, came to €8,081.
At the beginning of 2023, in the consecutive day sentences of January 11th and 12th that this newspaper had access to, Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia It eliminated potential penalties, but also recognized the player’s obligation to pay taxes in Spain. To avoid this, the footballer’s defense waved a certificate of tax residence in United kingdomAlthough, according to the judge, he did not attempt any self-liquidation there either.
The Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia guarantees that despite the fact that the player tried to prove that his permanent address was in the United Kingdom, His version is “unreliable”Because at the address registered by the tax authority, his relatives could have successfully delivered the liquidation notices, the penalty proposal, and the sanctions agreement.
Both TSJ Catalan referees are subject to cassation appeal supreme court.
