Valentino Rossi is heavily in debt to Italy

scandal

One of the most popular athletes in Italy, motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi, is suspected by the country's financial authorities of tax evasion. As a result of an investigation conducted by the fiscal services, it turned out that the seven-time world champion in motorcycle racing in the MotoGP class in 2000-2004 underpaid the state by €43.7 million. Tax officials believe that now Mr. Rossi must pay three times more to the treasury.

Italian tax authorities became interested in Valentino Rossi in 2000, when he announced that he was moving to London. Despite the driver’s attempts to explain the move as a desire to escape from his crazy compatriot fans, the real reason for his decision was obvious: the desire to save on taxes. Thus, since 2000, Valentino Rossi paid taxes in the UK, using his resident status there, that is, he contributed to the British treasury only from income received in this country. In Italy, Valentino Rossi paid exclusively tax on real estate that he owns in the country, without deducting anything from the amounts provided for in contracts with the Yamaha team and personal sponsors. According to tax officials, almost €60 million were undeclared, and the Italian treasury lost €43.7 million.

Valentino Rossi's move to London, according to the results of the investigation, was a fiction. In fact, the racer spent more than half the year in his homeland, which means, according to the laws, Italy remained his place of residence. The Tax Revenue Agency, which conducted the investigation, collected indisputable evidence of this fact: it had at its disposal reports on all calls from Italy from Valentino Rossi’s mobile phone. The report also indicates how many days the racer spent at his villa on the island of Sardinia, his own Pershing 50 yacht, which is based in the port of the Italian city of Numana, and a seven-room apartment in the town of Tartulia, where Rossi’s parents live. Tax officials also learned when, where and how often the racer flew on a rented plane from Rimini airport. All this information, according to the fiscal services, ambiguously indicates that Valentino Rossi misled them by indicating London as his place of permanent residence in his tax returns for 2000-2004.

Whether this is actually the case must now be decided by the court, which, according to existing rules, can initiate a criminal case after 60 days from the date of receipt of the report from the tax authorities. True, in the case of Valentino Russia this period will be almost one and a half times longer. The fact is that during the holiday season from August 1 to September 15, all procedural actions are suspended in Italy, so the countdown for opening a case will begin on September 16.

Until this date, Valentino Rossi will have to decide on his further actions. It has several possibilities. The most unattractive is to compensate the treasury for the loss. True, now the tax authorities are no longer demanding from Russia the underpaid €43.7 million, but almost three times more - €112 million. This amount includes fines for including false information in the tax return, as well as administrative penalties. Valentino Rossi can protest the claims of the fiscal services in a special commission specializing exclusively in tax disputes. The option of a compromise is also not excluded if the tax authorities agree to reduce the amount of the fine. If the case does go to court, Valentino Rossi faces a penalty ranging from inventory of property to three years in prison.

Anna Kommersant-Nefedova

Motorcycle racer caught up with taxes