A one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of over €386,000 . The long-running legal case involving Carlo Ancelotti in Spain has concluded with a conviction for tax fraud .
The former Real Madrid coach and current Brazil manager was accused of unpaid taxes for the 2014 and 2015 financial years , during his first spell as coach of the 'Blancos': the Provincial Court of Madrid confirmed the tax evasion for the first year, but acquitted the coach for the second.
Specifically, the allegation was that Ancelotti had failed to declare income from image rights to the Spanish tax authorities. According to the Madrid court ruling, in 2014, the income amounted to over €1.2 million, of which just over €386,000 was due in personal income tax. The Italian coach, the judges continued, received these earnings through a specially created corporate network, with offices in the British Virgin Islands and London, without reporting to the relevant Spanish authorities despite being tax resident in Spain. In 2015, however, Ancelotti spent less than 183 days in that country (in May of that year he was dismissed and settled in London for several months before joining Bayern Munich), so he cannot be held liable for the €675,000 fraud initially alleged against him in relation to that period.
The sentence imposed by the Madrid Provincial Court is significantly lower than the one proposed by the prosecutor, who had requested 4 years and 9 months of prison.
During the trial, Ancelotti requested an acquittal, claiming he had "never thought of defrauding the tax authorities" and that he didn't realize "something wasn't right" until later. Already in 2021, after his tax situation came under investigation, he had paid €1.4 million to the Spanish Treasury in compensation.
(Unioneonline)
