hey Vale....i have an idea...or if someone can convey this to Vale...after winning the Brno race....post race celebration should be somwthin to do with the new tax controversy....Vale stopping the bike and taking a suitcase full of money and riding back to the podium..... Vale...if u r listening to me...do this...ofcourse after winning..... we all love u Vale....no matter what.....

This is an excellent idea - I think he should definitely do it!!!

I really do hope Vale has a good accountant - it is only my personal view but I think if Vale dealt with it himself it would all revolve around a tatty cardboard box under his bed which is stuffed full of contracts and banknotes in various currencies - I may be being unfair to him but I just think he would concern himself with more exciting things.

If all else fails he could always just hand over some of his note-paper to make the tax-man happy:

nice pic...you'll put Vale in depper shit with pics like these...

good to see everybody out on full force over here...1 week prior....he needs all the support at this point.....COMMOONNNN VALEEEEE.......

From the FT of 8th and 9th Aug 07:

Star motorcyclist faces tax probe

By Paul Bompard in Rome
Published: August 8 2007 18:52 | Last updated: August 8 2007 18:52

Champion motorcyclist Valentino Rossi is under inves-tigation by the Italian tax authorities for alleged evasion of €60m in taxes between 2000 and 2004. The alleged offence is said to have occurred after he acquired the status of “resident but not domiciled” in the UK in March 2000.
Rossi, 29, won the top class 500cc and MotoGP world championship every year from 2001 to 2005. However, in 2006 he lost out to American Nicky Hayden and lies in second place in the 2007 standings behind Casey Stoner of Australia with seven races left.

He is the only rider to have won a world title in four classes: 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP.
His unprecedented success on the race track together with his humour and charisma have made Rossi highly popular. He is also very well paid to endorse a wide range of commercial products, including Telecom Italia, Peroni beer and Dainese sportswear. He has also appeared as an actor in television commercials.
If it is proved that Rossi did evade payment of €60m ($83m, £40m) in taxes, he would, under Italian law, have to pay a fine of between two and four times the evaded sum, amounting to as much as €240m.
Given the scale of the suspected evasion, the tax authorities are expected to lodge a formal complaint with the judiciary.
Rossi was officially notified of the investigation on August 3. So far he has not responded to the news of the investigation. His father, Graziano Rossi, himself a prominent motorcyclist in the 1970s, said: “I don’t know anything at all about this. The first I heard was when a friend rang me up and read something to me off a website. In fact, I do not even know where Valentino is.”
According to the tax authorities, under “resident but not domiciled” status Rossi paid what are described as “minimal” taxes in the UK only on his modest earnings in that country. They maintain that Rossi remained in practice a resident of Italy but declared only earnings deriving from property investments, rather than the far greater income from sponsorships and his contract with the Yamaha race team.
Rossi’s tax consultants created a network of companies outside Italy, with which Rossi’s various contracts were established, rather than with Rossi as an individual.
The tax authorities claim that the headquarters of this group of companies remained de facto in Italy; that Rossi has maintained solid “social and family” ties in Italy; and that therefore he should have paid Italian taxes on all his earnings.
The revenue agency of Italy’s Marche region, which is the office reported to be investigating Rossi, has confirmed the story but has declined to make any further comment.
Rossi is one of the leading motorcyclists of the past 40 years. He is known among motorcycle fans as “The Doctor” for the brilliance and precision of his riding style.

Motorbike ace Rossi in €60m tax probe

By Paul Bompard in Rome
Published: August 9 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 9 2007 03:00

Valentino Rossi, the champion motorcyclist, is under investigation by the Italian tax authorities for alleged evasion of €60m in taxes between 2000 and 2004. The alleged offence is said to have occurred after he acquired the status of "resident but not domiciled" in the UK in March 2000.
Mr Rossi won both the top class 500cc and MotoGP world titles every year from 2001 to 2005. He is the only rider to have won a world title in four classes: 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP.

His unprecedented success on the track together with his charisma have made Mr Rossi highly popular and brought well paid endorsement contracts, including Telecom Italia, Peroni beer and Dainese sportswear.
If it is proved that Mr Rossi did evade €60m ($83m, £40m) in taxes, he could face a fine of up to four times the evaded sum - €240m. Given the scale of the alleged evasion, the tax authorities are expected to lodge a formal complaint with the judiciary.
Mr Rossi was notified of the investigation on August 3. He has not responded to the news.
According to the tax authorities, Mr Rossi paid "minimal" taxes in the UK only on his modest earnings in that country. They maintain that he remained, in practice, a resident of Italy but declared only earnings from property investments, rather than the far greater income from sponsorships and his Yamaha contract.
Mr Rossi's tax consultants created a network of companies outside Italy, with which his various contracts were established, rather than with Mr Rossi himself.
The tax authorities claim that the headquarters of this network remained de facto in Italy; that Mr Rossi has maintained solid "social and family" ties in Italy; and that he should, therefore, have paid Italian taxes on his earnings.
The revenue agency of Italy's Marche region, the office reported to be investigating Mr Rossi, confirmed the story but declined to make any further comment.


No, I don't usually read the FT but my other half does.
He reckons they will have Vale over a barrel over this as he could be in trouble if he returns to his home - in other words the Misano GP. He may end up having to pay up something just to get them off his back. Still, who knows - I still think there may be nothing in it.

^While this was posted here first and another thread which was started was then closed, would it not be better for this to be in a separate thread - perhaps Off Topic, under rumours? If nothing else I think this may end up being more appropriate to the Misano GP - my hubby seems quite worried about this

according to the news if he is convicted he might have to pay up to $69 million....and might even face a prison term of 1 to 3 years....

I'm very worry now !!! Vale is in very biiig trouble !!! what to do now?? what we can do to support him, it's not the perfect time for this, why they're asking and speaking about taxes now !!! why not before !!!! why they're trying to destroy him and making him worry now??? why they are so bad like this !!!

They are trying to break him,but i hope he does not give in to that!!!OMG i feel so bad for him!!!!F**ck*ng taxes!!!!!

i told ya...taxmen are the worst f!@#$in bribe takers in this whole world...somebody's bribed them to do this. this is a conspirecy. somebody's tryin to break him and ruin his career. somethin's not right here....i can smell a stinkin rat somewhere....even if they put him behind bars he'll come back and win 3 more titles....he's VALENTINO ROSSI.....