Samuel Eto'o wins court fight over 2005 image rights tax bill | OneFootball

Samuel Eto'o has won a court battle with Hacienda over his 2005 image rights, as the Audiencia Nacional upheld his appeals and overturned orders that had left him facing around 900,000 euros.

Superdeporte writes that earlier decisions by the Catalonia regional tribunal in March 2017 and the Central Economic-Administrative Court in December 2019 had ruled against Eto'o, finding that income from licensing his image to Puma and Barcelona, channelled through several companies, should have been taxed as investment income under IRPF.

The fourth section of the contentious-administrative chamber annulled those resolutions, along with the 2005 personal income tax assessment and penalty, deeming them not in accordance with the legal framework.

Judges concluded the tax inspection overran the statutory time limit, which meant the 2005 period had expired by prescription. Eto'o therefore will not pay more than 409,000 euros in principal and interest, nor the 125 percent penalty for a very serious tax infringement.

The ruling, dated 22 April 2026, is open to appeal through cassation. The court said Hacienda had not sufficiently evidenced the delays cited to extend the procedure, so the effective inspection time exceeded the 12-month limit then in force.

Source: Superdeporte