In a dispute with the local tax authorities, Brazil’s soccer star Neymar apparently had to deposit the equivalent of around 15 million euros as a guarantee for possible tax debts.
The deposit into a trust account is said to have taken place last year, but was only made public on Friday after research by the Internet portal UOL Esporte.
The investigations against the striker of the French league leaders Paris St. Germain have been going on for seven years and are targeting, among other things, extra payments when the then talented FC Santos switched to Spain’s top club FC Barcelona in the summer of 2013.
Since 2011, his father is said to have received bonus money from the Catalans in Brazil that was not declared as income.
Neymar’s lawyers counter that a large part of the tax debt has already been settled with the Spanish tax authorities, leaving the Brazilian tax authorities only with a debt of the equivalent of 1.5 million euros.
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