Spain's tax office will have to give back €3.2 million to Dani Alves after a high court in the country upheld the player's appeal in a tax fraud case, EFE reports.
Alves, who has been in a jail in Barcelona since January awaiting trial on a sexual assault charge, had appealed against a verdict handed down by the Madrid's Administrative Court (TEAC).
Alves insisted that he had made a correct declaration to Spain's tax authorities regarding his image rights earnings during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 campaigns while a Barçelona player.
Spain's Treasury started investigating Alves in 2014 over irregularities in the transfer of his image rights income, which had allowed him to pay less tax. In 2008, Alves transferred his image rights to Cedro Sports company for €1.6m, the same year he signed for Barca.
Cedro Sports was owned by Alves and his ex-wife and then agent Dinorah Santana Da Silva. The Catalan club paid Alves part of his salary through that company.
Spain's Tax Office argued that the profits obtained from the exploitation of these image rights should be computed as capital gains as per corporate tax law.
However, Alves' defence was successful in its claim that his salary was in accordance with the law, distributing 85% through an employment contract with the club and the remaining 15% for image rights billed by Cedro Sports.