{"id":8838,"date":"2017-01-17T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-01-17T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=8838"},"modified":"2020-03-24T03:18:54","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T07:18:54","slug":"thinking-going-battle-irs-weareallleomessi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/thinking-going-battle-irs-weareallleomessi\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking of Going to Battle with the IRS? #WeAreAllLeoMessi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the IRS decided to target you in a criminal case, the Service has a 90% probability of winning at trial. A look at Messi\u2019s criminal case and the public backlash his club faced when they attempted to support him in his claim of innocence will help you understand why it\u2019s nearly impossible to beat the IRS in court. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For those of you not familiar with soccer outside of your kid\u2019s AYSO team, Messi is one of the top forwards of our generation. He pays for Barcelona, earning \u20ac36 million a year, and is known to take over a game. Unlike in the NBA, this level of dominance is quite rare and not seen since Pele. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you could care less about international soccer, all you need to know for this article is that Messi is big time. Anyone identified by only one name must be important! Think of Lebron, Shaq, Tiger, Jordan, Bono, Prince, and Madonna (yes, I\u2019m a child of the \u201880s), all greats. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve always dreamt my little blog would become so big I could go by Reeves without anyone thinking of Christopher \/ Superman. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Messi and his father (who was his financial advisor) were recently charged with tax evasion in Spain. Both decided to go to trial and were promptly convicted by a Spanish court of 4 counts of tax fraud. They were sentenced to 21 months and ordered to pay \u20ac3.5 million in taxes and penalties. Under Spanish law, those with sentences of less than 24 months don\u2019t go to jail\u2026 they were released with 2 years of probation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 25 year old Messi has maintained his innocence throughout the process. He claims that he didn\u2019t manage his money and had no idea what tax plans his advisors put in place. Basically, he was too busy playing soccer around the world and chasing supermodels to worry about taxes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Messi\u2019s father says he and he alone was working with the tax planners and that his son had nothing to do with it. That his son had no idea what tax schemes the advisors had cooked up. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a rare showing of support, Messi\u2019s football club, and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/m.dreamteamfc.com\/c\/la-liga-president-says-lionel-messi-innocent-court-verdict-see-move-abroad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">president of the league<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> his club plays, in both say he\u2019s innocent of the charges. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having been around the block a few times, I tend to believe Messi. My guess is that the Spanish authorities decided to make an example out of him because of his fame. To get others to fall in line by making an example of someone famous\u2026 taking a play out of the IRS offshore playbook. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our IRS does it all the time. The US offshore voluntary disclosure program is based on making an example of Americans with offshore accounts to scare the rest into compliance. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether Messi is innocent or not, it\u2019s the support of his club and league I\u2019d like to talk about. More specifically, the backlash these statements of innocence elicited from the general public and what we in the US of A can learn from them. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barcelona thought it would be a good idea to put out the hashtag #WeAreAllLeoMessi to get good wishes and support back from their fans. Of course it failed in spectacular fashion. The general public reads that the government accused someone of cheating on their taxes and assumes it to be true. Messi was convicted in the court of public opinion long before he was sentenced. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are just a few of the tweets of \u201csupport\u201d that came in: <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Really?<\/p>\n<p>I dont remember being a tax dodger<\/p>\n<p>The little prick earns \u00a330m + a year and still tries to avoid tax<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Danny (@The_GFP) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/The_GFP\/status\/751908662122311680\">July 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Twitter destroys Barcelona\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a> support campaign after tax-fraud sentence: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/riOOwJq7g1\">https:\/\/t.co\/riOOwJq7g1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mvDFbihrjX\">pic.twitter.com\/mvDFbihrjX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/br_uk\/status\/751815287293374464\">July 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Wars, terrorist attacks, mass shootings every day&#8230;Sure&#8230;Let&#8217;s defend a criminal who refused to be a little less rich.. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Carlo (@korlinr) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/korlinr\/status\/751858422174408704\">July 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FCBarcelona\">@FCBarcelona<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a> Done <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tIBY9J9rOb\">pic.twitter.com\/tIBY9J9rOb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 JH (@Jrmadrid_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jrmadrid_\/status\/751805358683807744\">July 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a> is one of the worst hashtags ever. A punch in the face of ppl who do hard work on a low pay and yet still pay their taxes<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Norissima ? (@__B_E_E) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/__B_E_E\/status\/751851010600136704\">July 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The horrible little tax dodger is great at football and should be above the law. Am I doing this right? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FCBarcelona\">@FCBarcelona<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Unfitforpurpose (@unfitforpurpose) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/unfitforpurpose\/status\/751810005112946688\">July 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Dear <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FCBarcelona\">@FCBarcelona<\/a> Who told you <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a> ? We are not criminals, we all pay our taxes. The heights of Shamelessness<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Constantine D&#8217;Gooner (@CJBassey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CJBassey\/status\/751836786544898048\">July 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a> because I too am a 5&#8217;8&#8243;, bearded, left-footed forward who has not paid \u20ac4,000,000 to the Spanish government<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mason Belles (@MasonBelles) July 9, 2016<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"und\">. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FCBarcelona\">@FCBarcelona<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreAllLeoMessi?src=hash\">#WeAreAllLeoMessi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NT3Wrn9h4v\">pic.twitter.com\/NT3Wrn9h4v<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 JAhmed (@azkhawaja1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/azkhawaja1\/status\/751804251135995904\">July 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If this is the kind of support a beloved footballer gets, what hope do we average mortals have of beating a tax charge? In the United States, if you have a million dollars to spend on high priced lawyers, your probability of success is about 10%. If you don\u2019t have money for fancy advocates, you\u2019re done before the jury\u2019s been selected. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason the IRS wins all its cases are simple: a jury of your \u201cpeers\u201d is not made of of hard working international entrepreneurs and business owners. It\u2019s comprised of average people like the tweeters above who will convict you right after lunch (not before because they want the free meal). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The members of the \u00a0jury pay their taxes, so why didn\u2019t you? And with that simple question, and the assumption that the government can do no wrong, you\u2019re convicted. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Messi had been charged in the USA, he probably would have gotten 3 to 5 years in prison, considering the severity of the charges and that tax amount. So, the next time you\u2019re thinking about messing with the IRS, just remember these tweets and whether you want these people sitting in judgement of you. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019re not all Messi, but we are business people who work offshore, operate in several countries, and often push the tax envelope. We all need to be careful when it comes to dealing with the all powerful IRS. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If the IRS decided to target you in a criminal case, the Service has a 90% probability of winning at trial. A look at Messi\u2019s criminal case and the public backlash his club faced when they attempted to support him in his claim of innocence will help you understand why it\u2019s nearly impossible to beat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":686,"featured_media":8844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1401],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[13210,13214,8347,13208,7456,13220,4763,13218,13206,13204,13223,13216,4985,13212,2335,3735,5129,2131,13222,3477],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Cm7sz1_YXg_AAIl_FE.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8838"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30226,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8838\/revisions\/30226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8838"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=8838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}