The expilot emerges unscathed from the tax investigation between 2013 and 2016
MADRID, 9 Jan. (.) –
The former pilot and world champion Jorge Lorenzo puts an end to the “nightmare” that he claimed to have experienced due to the “persecution” of the Spanish Treasury towards him, with the closure of the last folder (the one from 2016) of the inspection that the prosecutor opened him.
In an open letter to the media, Lorenzo explains that he went to live in Lugano (Switzerland) because of the environment, the training, and also because of a “much more reasonable and less aggressive and confiscatory” tax regime than other places, alluding to Spain.
Lorenzo summarized his situation with the Treasury and celebrated that, after years of suffering, the investigation and complaint against him has already been closed. An open inspection in June 2017, challenging the pilot’s status as a Swiss tax resident.
“Despite the fact that the Swiss authorities insisted that my situation was perfectly legal, the Spanish Treasury always questioned everything. Thus, it sent hundreds of requests to my sponsors and teams, seeking not only information but also my discredit in front of public opinion, making me appear in the media as a fraudster”, recalled the Spaniard.
According to Lorenzo, Haciendo sent some emissaries to the ‘paddock’ to force him to sign a document. “They assaulted me and blocked my exit when I was going to get on the motorcycle minutes before starting a race,” he denounced.
“Likewise, I had to advance the money that they demanded of me, to avoid embargoes and humiliating situations (such as appearing on the lists of defaulters). A real derision. I have suffered a lot these five and a half years,” he contributed.
A persecution that, he assured, ended up affecting his sports performance. “As a professional, I have always tried to remain focused on the races, isolating myself from the noise of third parties. But I must admit that the pressure and anguish that this unfair and twisted persecution of the Spanish Treasury caused me ended up affecting my professional life,” he lamented.
A year and a half ago, at the end of June 2021, already retired from the competition, the Spaniard assured that “finally” he saw the light. “The Central Economic Administrative Court agreed with my lawyer regarding the years 2013, 2014 and 2015. A forceful resolution annulled the settlements that had been improperly transferred to me. And naturally, they returned the money that I had advanced,” he explained.
“Now, there was never any type of repair for the damage caused. No compensation for the damages. Not an apology, public or private, letter or call. Nothing,” he lamented.
In December 2022, a new pronouncement, this time from the Regional Economic Administrative Court of Catalonia, once again agreed with him with respect to the year 2016, the last of those investigated. “I am confident that with this this nightmare will end,” said Lorenzo.
The former pilot, now a MotoGP commentator on DAZN, contributed that taxes are “necessary” and that if the money is well managed by the Administration (“it is not always the case”), contributing is something that one is “proud of”. .
“But what is also undeniable is that taxes have to be paid wherever you live. The Spanish Treasury started a witch hunt and thought they had found a scapegoat. They were wrong. Of course, nobody is going to give me back my sleepless nights nor the peace I needed to concentrate on the circuits”, concluded Lorenzo.
