Cristiano Ronaldo’s hair transplant clinics are ‘under investigation by Spanish authorities after failing to pay VAT’ – but ‘claim they are exempt as they provide a medical service’

Hair transplant clinics co-owned by Cristiano Ronaldo are reportedly under investigation by authorities over tax issues.

Al-Nasr and Portugal star Ronaldo – who earns £173million a year – has diversified his income by investing in several business interests throughout his career.

Forbes estimated his net worth in 2023 to be $500 million (£409 million), but according to a Spanish publication Sportronaldo might be in trouble.

The 38-year-old owns several Insparya Medical Clinic hair transplant clinics, but these are being investigated by the Tax Agency in Spain.

The report claims they opened a case against the hair transplant clinics after they issued multiple invoices without VAT to hundreds of clients between 2019 and 2021.

Ronaldo co-owns many of these clinics, but they don’t charge VAT to many customers

The operational defense claim that alopecia “is a disease” and therefore “medical services of diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure” are exempt from VAT.

However, the Ministry of Finance in Spain is reported to claim that instead the transplants are “purely for aesthetic reasons” and therefore their prices must include VAT, which is currently 21 percent in Spain.

Tax auditors have inspected bank statements, cash payments and an anonymous payment list.

The file for the investigation was opened in February 2022 with the hearing process starting in May 2023.

The clinics have handed over process responsibility to lawyers, but insist they drafted all the legislation and regulations.

The report goes on to claim that the researchers tried to emphasize how these treatments are for “purely cosmetic” purposes.

As a result, they showed up at the company’s offices in Madrid to inspect photos taken by clients at different stages of the transplant.

Ronaldo’s company claims to provide a medical service and is exempt from VAT

The Tax Office also asked the company to justify various expenses they had deducted in relation to hotels, meals and travel, along with those invoices excluding VAT.

However, Insparya submitted a report from the World Health Organization and an opinion from a doctor specializing in dermatology in response.

In it, they insisted that alopecia is a disease and that the transplant is a necessary “medical treatment”, thus explaining the non-charge of VAT.

The report states: “It is not in doubt that the treatment of alopecia areata leads to aesthetic improvement in a large proportion of patients who have undergone such treatment, but the aim of this treatment is not only cosmetic, but also medical, e.g. placement of a prosthesis in a patient who has lost a limb’.