Diego Costa Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud

Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyGolder’s News And Sport

Chelsea legend Diego Costa has pleaded guilty to tax fraud and has asked his current team Atletico Madrid to foot his 1.1-million-EUR bill. 

The Spanish star pleaded guilty to committing tax fraud in 2014 while he was still playing for Chelsea.

The player paid his taxes in 2014 but with his fiscal residence in the UK as he was playing in London at the time.

Pictures Credit: Golders/@diego.costa

However, the Spanish Tax Office found that Diego Costa lived in Spain for six months of that year before his transfer to Chelsea, meaning he had to declare his tax as a Spanish tax resident.

The case reportedly focuses on an image-rights contract Costa has with Adidas amounting to 800,0000 EUR (740,920 GBP) which the Spanish authorities said he did not pay taxes on correctly.f

Spanish newspaper El Mundo report that after some failed attempts at reaching an agreement with the Tax Office, the player decided to make a deal the same way many other footballers in Spain have already done, by paying more money.

Costa paid 1,142,888 EUR (1,058,485 GBP) in taxes on 8th August last week. This covers the amount the Tax Office claimed he owed.

The player will reportedly also have to pay 600,000 EUR (555,690 GBP) in a court in Madrid on 4th October to finalise the deal. This amount is to spare the player prison time which could have been up to six months.

The ex-Chelsea forward has reportedly asked Atletico de Madrid to cover the amount of 1.1 million EUR as a gesture to keep him with the team lineup as he has reportedly tried several times to negotiate for better wages with the team.

El Mundo also report the player has felt undervalued in the Spanish club with his wages not reflecting his importance to the club in comparison to other players. He currently makes 10 million EUR (9.26 million GBP) net per year, half of what Antoine Griezmann was earning before he left for Barcelona this summer.

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