Diego Maradona, formerly referred to by legions of football fans as “the Golden One”, lost more than weight when he checked into a weight loss clinic at the Hotel Palace health spa in Merano, Italy. The 48 year old former football (yeah, that’s soccer to my US readers) standout checked into the spa in an attempt to get his weight under control. While he was there, the Italian police confiscated the earrings he was wearing; the three diamond earrings were estimated to be worth just under $6,000.
That may seem like a lot – but it’s just a fraction of the more than 31 million euros (about $45 million) that Maradona allegedly owes. Tax authorities in Italy claim that Maradona accrued the taxes in the 80s and 90s when he played for the league club Napoli. His time with the team earned him a spot as on the list as one of the greatest players of all time. An internet vote for FIFA Player of the Century award tied him with football great Pelé.
You’d think Maradona would learn his lesson. Three years ago, Italian police confiscated two Rolex watches worth about $15,000 when he showed up to play in a benefit match. The police were allowed to make the seizure due to a court order that authorizes authorities to take anything “within plain sight” that belongs to Maradona.
Maradona, for his part, has taken the Richard Hatch approach and claims that has always insisted that the taxes are the responsibility of team Napoli as his employer and not his. (Psst, Maradona, it didn’t work for Hatch, either.)
Maradona is no stranger to controversy. He has previously faced suspensions and expulsions for failing doping tests for cocaine and ephedrine. Maradona’s history of drug abuse lead to significant problems with his weight. After a stomach stapling operation failed, Maradona headed to the Dolomites to try out a new weight loss regime… It seems that he lost a lot more than he bargained for.
(Image in the public domain.)
When I was in law school, I spent a summer studying in Italy. Though I’ve been fortunate to travel to many places, Rome and its surrounding area remain among my favorite places in the world. The area is breathtakingly beautiful and the people are just so gracious.
It was with much sadness that I read about the earthquake in L’Aquila and surrounding villages. As I go to bed tonight, there are 150 reported deaths. Italy’s Civil Protection agency has reported at least 1,500 injured and 50,000 without shelter.
My thoughts and prayers are with the people of that region.
On May 5, the idea of bargain shopping on eBay took a new twist. Item 100237099149 went up for sale for the sum of $75 but the item was actually quite priceless. You see, what appeared to be just another auction item was actually a CD containing the “income-tax returns for 2005 of the entire Italian people.”
That’s not a typo.
And it wasn’t a joke.
A few days earlier, Italian tax authorities had inexplicably put all 38.5 million Italian personal income tax records from 2005 online. The information was eventually deleted but before that happened, the data had already been re-posted to other sites and downloaded.
How could this happen? It may not have been an accident. Some in Italy believe that it was a purposeful act by Romano Prodi’s government, who had prior to losing the general election, been a vocal critic of tax evasion. Interestingly, the timing of the release of the tax records came just after Silvio Berlusconi took office though the release was approved in March.
Even more telling, the deputy finance minister, Vincenzo Visco, said the online publication promoted “transparency and democracy.” This may seem odd, but in Italy, personal income tax returns have been matters of public record and are on display in local town and city halls for a period of one year – unlike here in the US where we consider the information private. However, the Italian data-protection authority believes that making the information available on the internet is very different from making them available in paper form. An investigation is under way to determine whether the release online was a violation of existing law. Additionally, a consumer association is seeking compensation for taxpayers worth approximately $1000 per taxpayer.
What do you think? What would be appropriate compensation for making your tax information available online – taking into consideration that the information was already made public by law?
(Hat Tip: one of my husband’s favorite news magazines, The Economist, which I won’t admit to reading at the house (long story) but I do find it enjoyable…)
The crackdown on tax evaders who depend on Liechtenstein in order to shield income has escalated.
Nine countries from the Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD), Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Sweden, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, have reportedly received and are examining information on Liechtenstein accounts from two banks. The Bundesnachrichtendienst has officially confirmed that Liechtenstein Global Trust (LGT) Group is a focus of the investigation, a charge that LGT has acknowledged. The other bank has not been officially named though the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung has indicated that it is a subsidiary from the Swiss private banking group Vontobel in Liechtenstein; Vontobel has said that this is not true.
The OECD has been prominent amid these investigations. The Organization claims to provide “a setting where governments compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and coordinate domestic and international policies.”
It is not surprising to note the OECD’s involvement. In 2002, the OECD published a list of un-cooperative tax havens, which initially included seven countries. Only three remain on the list: Andorra, Monaco and yep, Liechtenstein.
