Spain is a little less close to needing financial support from the EU:

Alonso cops 80m tax bill for return to Spain

There's a better source than Mirror:

http://plus.autosport.com/free/feature/352...s-at-barcelona/

Good for him if he values family and friends more than money.

He got critizised.

Indee, to the point that Alonso's haters in Spain call him "the Swiss".

interesting comments on spanish tv, looks like the tax authorities were just about to go after him, seems this could be a negotiated agreement betwwen the authorities and him,,

Problem Solved
Regards from Spain

Why would he be prosecuted by the tax authorities?. Many spanish sportman live outside of the country to pay less taxes and it´s perfectly legal.

Also, he is employed by an italian company so that rumour looks pretty suspicious.

If I am not mistaken as Alonso moved to Oviedo nearby La Nueva elsewhere.

it seems something to do with his activities in spain and the number of days he was spending here, and while living outside of spain in theory would exempt him from paying taxes it is not a clear cut thing, as always when lawyers are involved there are different interpretations and while without havong all the information this makes sense to me , normally people dont give up 50 million if they dont have to

If he has no problem in paying that AMOUNT OF MONEY then good for him. I just think he is a bit crazy because If I were him, I would not be happy to give my money to certain corrupt politicians

He definitely isn't that greedy after all

Anyway, he's always struck to me as the kind of driver who prefers F1 over money... He has always said to make money in F1 is secondary to him, that he prefers to be happy with his own life.

The fact that his salary, due to the new contract with Ferrari, has been decreased is telling.

Presumably because playing football, is one of the easiest ways to pick up an injury. One bad tackle, and you can say hello to a broken leg, and the end to the rest of your season.


Kudos to Alonso though

Yeah but there are things we don't know, like if someone in their family is ill so he prefers to be there, for example. So if he did it there should be a reason.

Maybe, but i work quite a lot with the spanish tax authorities and i´ve never seen them do something like this.

The usual way is to contact the person and claim him the taxes and then, if necessary, begin the negotiations to avoid getting in a complex judicial prosecution. I know that in other countries is different, but in Spain making a negotiation with a tax evader without initiating any kind of procedure can be even classified as a criminal offense. Also, when the authorities are after a famous person they like to make it public to "send a message" to the rest of the people.

That´s why that theory sounds weird to me.

As you said, if you want to have the tax benefits from living abroad, you have to spend a certain amount of days in the country were you life. Work days doesn´t count, so basically you must be in Switzerland most of your free time.

Maybe he prefers to pay the money and live where he likes instead of having to stay away of the family and friends. He earns so much money that he seems not to care about that anymore.

really difficult to know without having all the information, but for someone who is already used to living outside of his country it seems weird to me that all of a sudden he is homesick and is willing to take a hit that huge in his finances just to see his friends more often, i would be very surprised if he doesnt see his parents as much as he wants, the trip from oviedo to geneva isnt that long, as another poster said maybe a family illness , either that or the tax issue make sense to me ,

Dude, people still talking about finances I think Atic Atac point is just as good. Please, leave it there. Bashers to the rescue?

dude this is just a discussion, nobody offending or insulting anybody, and calling me a basher is a little too much, if you bother to look at my post history you would find out i am an alonso supporter.

really difficult to discuss anything here concerning any driver if as soon as you say anything which may mean that so and so driver is not gods gift to mankind.you are labeled a basher.

Thread split as requested.

Please keep discussion about his tax bill and fallout from that here.

I think that once you have enough money squirreled away it's probably time to think about where you are happiest living rather than where is it cheapest.

All of them pretty much live in Monaco or whatever.

He probably just doesn't understand what's so terribly interesting about the particulars of tax paying or how it relates to racing. But true enough, those fascinated by it should be free to discuss it, and now the issue even got a dedicated thread, so we can all be happy.

I am choosing to believe it is an attack of conscience.

Oh, so Fernando has gotten people attack him too for not paying taxes where they think he should be paying taxes?

The amount of angry comments towards Kimi in Finland because he doesn't live in Finland is amazing. I would say that there are such comments published about him almost every week that would warrant a libel lawsuit against the poster.

I can believe Spain has these kinds of idiots too... the kind of idiots who think they have a right to dictate where a sports star should officially reside.

I think such people are pathetic losers who can't stand the fact that someone is doing better than they are doing. These people are probably the same people who try to get everything "equal" no matter have they actually done something to deserve it or not. Everyone should get paid the same and so forth. The Soviet Union has been dead for a long time but this same equality bullshit lie still goes on. People are jealous, that's what it is. People are sitting at home and at their lousy job, complaining that someone else's life is better than theirs and effectively demand it taken away from them so everyone will feel miserable.

I'm seriously considering founding a business and all the "he's committed treason by moving out of the country and by not paying taxes here"-whiners in my country make me think I want to found it elsewhere so they'll have none of the money potentially coming in to the business.

Fernando can live where he wants and I have no problem. Every other rich star can choose their place freely too. I suggest people who complain about where other people pay taxes be sent to Siberia to build a railway or something, preferably in the Winter.

Is it really unreasonable to hope that someone who has benefitted from the state should pay it back when they are able? I don't know much about Spain's state health care or his family circumstances. But from what I am aware, if he'd fallen out of his kart and hurt himself as a child, the state would have provided medical care for him. And even if that didn't happen, he had the insurance of knowing that the state WOULD be there to pick him up. He is now in a position to provide those services to other children (and adults) and repay the favour.

Are you completely insane!

This is how tax works.

Nobody wants to pay it.

Everyone wants to benefit from the public services that are funded by it.

There is no contradition either financially or ethically in this viewpoint. Yes, really. Scout's honour.

Yes. By that logic if they pay back the equivalent that they cost or potentially could have cost the taxpayer he should be able to live where he likes. Furthermore what if someone is offered a job in a another country, they shouldn't accept it because the haven't paid back to their state of origin? Also was the EU wrong in allowing people to move freely around the EU to work and live where they like?

I have no problem with people moving around, paying the relevant tax when they get there and making use of any public services to which they are entitled. I do have a problem with people moving around explicitly to avoid tax.

How are you going to figure out how much someone potentially could have cost the state? If things had worked out slightly differently, anyone could've been on any manner of benefits simply due to ill-fortune. It's not about paying back what you take out of it. State services could never operate on that basis because a lot of people will take far more out of it than they can ever afford to put back in. It's about providing security to those who, by some quirk of fate, are not as fortunate as you.

I think I just got the reason why Alonso signed a 5 year deal with Ferrari...

I think you are right. Also I wonder if Santander picked up part the tax bill to seal this deal.

Recently, it seems that Santander is bottomless pit of money. They pay for Ferrari's full season budget, they paid for Kimi to retire, and now they fill Alonso's tax forms.

If you've ever paid taxes you would know that there is no such thing as someone paying your taxes unless it is an under the table illegal tax evation.

I know Alonso is hated to death in this forum, but maybe just maybe he just wants to go back to his hometown to be near his family and friends. I know this sounds like the craziest of ideas, but it can be a posibility.

That is touching but is it realistic?

$80M is alot of cash to come up with. Did Alonso have to sell any assets to come up with this lump or did he just have it laying around? How much is he worth these days?

Maybe the report is misleading. The $80m is the total in taxes over the speculated 5-year deal with Ferrari. Of course, taxes will be paid each year after he makes a fraction of the whole deal.

i would take that $80m figure with a pinch of salt,how would anyone know his confidential info?? i'd say it's just a guess work.

Yes it does seem like an exorbitant amount!

If this was an estimate at a 50% tax rate then it would mean Alonso would earn $160M over the 5 years, or $32M per year. So 16M for Alonso and 16M for Spain each year. I would stay in Switzerland for a few more years!

Ps. Is Alonso's new contract for $30+M per year??