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3rd November 2023
03:45pm GMT
Cristiano Ronaldo is under investigation from Spanish authorities over hair transplant clinics he co-owns.
The clinics are one of several business ventures the Portuguese star has undertaken, helping him accumulate a net worth of $500m according to Forbes.
But according to Spanish media, some of the Insparya Medical Clinic hair transplant clinics he co-owns are now facing scrutiny from the authorities.
Spanish outlet Sport reports that the country's Tax Agency has opened an investigation after the clinics issued several invoices without VAT from 2019 to 2021 to hundreds of clients.
Spain's treasury has argued that the transplants are "purely for aesthetic purposes" and therefore must have VAT included in the price.
Tax investigators have reportedly looked at bank statements, cash payments and an anonymised list of payments.
But Insparya argues that alopecia and hair loss is a disease and that the treatment they offer is a "medical service of diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure” and therefore exempt from VAT.
The clinics insist they have complied with all legislation and regulations. Their lawyers have taken responsibility for handling the process.
As part of their defence, they delivered a report from the World Health Organisation which included the opinion of a doctor who specialises in dermatology.
The report reads: “It is not questionable that the treatment of the disease of alopecia leads to an aesthetic improvement in a large part of the patients subjected to said treatment, but the objective of this treatment is not only aesthetic but also medical, such as the placement of a prosthesis to a patient who has lost a limb.”
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