Lionel Messi shocks Spain after his contract’s leaking: he paid this fortune for taxes

The soap opera between Lionel Messi and Barcelona goes on and on. The Argentinian star is finishing his contract with the club at the end of the current season, and ahead of Barca’s presidential elections, his future is a mystery. Some people are sure he will sign for another extension and retire in there, while others see him moving away from the city very soon.

The biggest controversy started two weeks ago, when sports newspaper El Mundo had reported he was paid over €555 million. That equals around $673 million he earned since November 25, 2017, the day he signed his last contract extension with Barcelona. Lots of reactions came afterwards both in favor and against the Argentinian legend, who scored over 650 goals in over 750 games.

Most of the people who support the player against the club and the board replicated by providing the full stats of his spell at the club, including Argentina’s sports sensationalist newspaper Olé. They replicated El Mundo ‘555 237 619’ cover (the exact figure in euros), by pointing ‘650 260 755. Everything is worth’, corresponding to his goals, assists and games until then, respectively.

Now, newspaper El Periódico has stated Messi is one of the biggest contributors to Spain’s taxes, after having paid at least €370 million (over $445 million). The publication reports that around €275 million ($332 million) of them are related to the published contract. The largest percentage of his contribution is what Spain calls IRPF, ‘Impuesto de la Renta’, something we could translate to ‘Rental Tax’, which is directly proportional to the fixed salary and variations.