Lionel Messi, his father’s “VAT number” managed by a Roman accountant – Corriere.it

Tax code MSSJGH58D … VAT number 113145 … a customer of Roman accountant Stefano De Angelis, 60 years. Not just any customer. MSS stands for Messi; JGH for Jorge Horacio. That is, the father (64 years old) of Argentina captain Leo Messi (35 years old), who has just graduated from the world champion in the Qatar tournament and is one of the highest paid sportsmen ever: 120 million a year between sponsors and engagement at Paris Saint-Germain.

Managing Lionel’s finances is dad. So if the son dreams of any football team, the father dreams of any accounting firm. But what’s he doing at De Angelis? Jorge Horacio Messi who, among other things, is an Italian citizen from the documents? And who is this accountant?

September practice

At the Chamber of Commerce of Rome in September 2022 the file with which DeAngelis, on professional headed paper, declares to have been appointed by the owner of the sole proprietorship to submit and sign the application for registration in the business register. The sole proprietorship is precisely Jorge Horacio Messi, which indicates that of public relations and communication as its primary activity and that of sports agent as a secondary one. To date, however, Jorge is not registered in either the FIFA register of sports agents or that of the FIGC.

The Milan office in Torre Solaria

Rome seems to be a new stage: two years ago it emerged that Messi senior, director and strategist of the economic-sporting contracts of the Pulce, had taken up residence in Milan, in the exclusive Torre Solaria in Porta Nuova, where the company is based today and where the properties are sold for around 14-15 thousand euros per square metre, or rather how much the champion from Rosario earns in an hour. The news had made Inter fans dream because at the time there was a false rumor that the Zhang family (already in financial reserve), could negotiate the purchase of the Barcelona champion. At the same time Jorge had officially opened the VAT number, registering with INPS and the Revenue Agency.

The tax expert

But for the files, even more recent in Rome, everything passed through De Angelis’ office. And at the base there could be tax reasons such as, for example, the €100,000 flat-rate scheme for income generated abroad introduced by the 2017 Budget Law. The perimeter of activity entrusted to De Angelis is not known (nor did the accountant make himself available on the phone) but he was probably hired by Jorge Messi as an expert in tax law – reads the website of the Coccia De Angelis firm – with particular specialization in the field of sports and entertainment. Both, professional and studio, with a solid reputation also in the world of sport. After all, the Messi family cannot risk slipping again on taxes after what happened in the past.

Conviction for tax fraud

The Spanish supreme court in 2017 confirmed on appeal the sentence to 21 months in prison (later converted into a fine) of Leo Messi for tax fraud, for having diverted 10.1 million euros of image rights to tax havens between 2007 and 2009. In addition, the court had reduced the father’s sentence from 21 to 15 months, charged as administrator of his son’s assets. In 2013, before the start of the procedure, Messi had paid the Spanish tax authorities 5 million euros in settlement of the image rights for the 3 years in question and interest.