Cristiano Ronaldo denies tax evasion claims after being charged with defrauding Spanish authorities for £13m

CRISTIANO RONALDO has denied defrauding the Spanish tax office out of £13million.

The Real Madrid forward has been accused by Madrid's regional state prosecutor of four counts of tax fraud relating to image rights payments.

The prosecutor alleged he used an off-shore company to hide a portion of his income from the tax office.

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But a statement from Ronaldo's management company Gestifute insisted the global superstar has acted in accordance with British and Spanish tax laws.

Tuesday evening's statement read: "Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid in 2009 under the Law of Impatriots, legislation in force and prevailing then, and he was taxed only for the incomes that were attributable to Spain.

"The Prosecutor's Office says that the player declared the income derived from the transfer of image rights as income from movable capital to evade taxes.

"The laws applicable to Cristiano Ronaldo are the Personal Income Tax Law and the Impatriots Law.

"In Articles 25.4 and 13.1.F3, respectively, it is clear that the player's income for image rights is considered to be as movable capital and will only exceptionally be income from an economic activity.

"The player declared to the Tax Authorities 100 per cent of the part attributable to Spain of Tollin's income and his image rights during the periods 2009-2014 and 2015-2020.

"All this according to the criteria set by the United Kingdom Treasury to determine that part of the image transfer revenue was originated in that country, which shows that there was no intention to defraud.

"In conclusion: the declared amount can be discussed, but it is clear that the football player did not try to evade taxes."

Ronaldo’s estimated net worth is between £210m and £230m and earns around £440,000-a-week at Real Madrid.

And he recently signed a lifetime contract with sportswear giants Nike worth upwards of £1billion.

Ronaldo is the latest high profile footballer in La Liga to be hit with a charge by the Spanish authorities.

Lionel Messi was given a 21-month jail sentence after being found guilty of tax fraud.

However, he is unlikely to spend any time behind bars as Spanish laws decree that any sentence under two years can be served as suspended.

Meanwhile, Neymar has been ordered to stand trial for fraud following his bitter transfer from Santos to Barcelona in 2013.