Barcelona has taken a firm stance against bitter rivals Real Madrid while announcing their intention to appeal the National Court’s decision upholding the penalty imposed on them for alleged tax irregularities, by taking the matter to the Supreme Court.
In 2020, Spain’s Central Economic-Administrative Court had levied a €23 million tax liability on Barcelona for alleged irregularities. Despite their initial appeal being rejected by the National Court, Barcelona has confirmed their resolve to pursue another appeal at the Supreme Court.
In an official statement, the club expressed skepticism regarding the National Court’s ruling, suggesting that other clubs have benefited from similar circumstances, implicitly referring to Real Madrid, who have faced comparable accusations in the past.
“Futbol Club Barcelona shall be presenting an appeal to the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo),” the statement conveyed (via GOAL). “It comes as a surprise that the Contentious-Administrative division of the National Court has not considered the most recent jurisprudence of the Supreme Court on this matter, from which certain other football clubs have been able to benefit in recent sentences on the same matter.”
The statement further elaborated:
“The divergent criteria of the National Court is also surprising when, a few months ago, another section accepted an appeal from our club on an identical issue to the current one derived from the same inspection to the Non-Resident Income Tax.
This ruling does not entail any payment obligation for the club at present, this contingency being properly provisioned in the annual accounts.”
Barcelona is determined to reverse the situation to avoid bearing the €23 million penalty, particularly amidst their current financial challenges.
