Like other celebrities, professional athletes and sports personalities earn so much money. Think of this, isn't it great to play a game and earn as much as $1 million for it?

With huge earnings and salaries, come huge taxes as well. Paying tax is something that athletes, even ordinary working people, should not overlook. People who failed to pay the correct amount of taxes will undoubtedly be reprimanded.

Tax evasion is not a poor man's game. Even celebrities like Martha Stewart, Nicolas Cage, and Wesley Snipes had face tax evasion cases. When it comes to sports personalities who had face tax crimes, take a look at the list below.

Lionel Messi

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi faced allegations of filing falsified income tax returns (ITR) for the years 2007 until 2009. The Spanish authorities filed criminal charges against Messi and his father.

Manny Pacquiao

The Filipino boxer who had a convincing victory against Brandon Rios in his last bout held in Macau is also facing a tax evasion case. The Philippines' Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) had Pacquiao's bank accounts frozen. BIR claims that Pacquiao did not file the correct ITR for the years 2008 and 2009, amounting to 2.2 billion Philippine pesos.

Garth Leroux

In 2006, Leroux was charged with 48 counts of tax fraud. He was found guilty, two years after. Leroux was sentenced to 4 years in jail. However, in 2010, the conviction was toppled and the former South African first class cricketer was cleared of all the charges.

Boris Becker

Former World No. 1 Boris Becker faced tax problems in 1993. He was put on probation for 2 years, in addition to fine worth half a million dollars.

Bill Whittington

In 1986, Whittington pleaded guilty to tax evasion as well as conspiracy to smuggle narcotics. He was sentenced to prison for 15 years, but he was released four years after.

It is vital that people, most especially sports personalities and celebrities, to have a strategy when it comes to paying taxes. It is vital to hire a trusted financial adviser to better manage their earnings as well as the right amount of taxes to deduct to avoid tax crimes or having to pay a huge tax bill.

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