Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho faces calls for probe into his tax affairs

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is facing calls for a probe into his tax affairs.

It follows claims he avoided tax by moving millions of pounds offshore.

Labour MP Meg Hillier, who chairs the public accounts committee, said the “extraordinary” allegations “warrant close examination.”­

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is also said to have put money into a tax haven.

Gestifute, the agency which represents Mourinho­ and the Portuguese­ striker, rejects wrong-doing.

It said: “Both Cristiano­ Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are fully compliant with their tax obligations­. Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Jose Mourinho have ever been involved in legal proceedings regarding the commission of a tax offence.

“Any insinuation or accusation made to Cristiano Ronaldo or Jose Mourinho over the commission of a tax offence will be reported and prosecuted.”

It was claimed yesterday that in a bid to cut his tax, Mourinho’s advisers appear to have claimed more than £1million in costs were run up by a British Virgin Islands shell company with no staff.

The report also claimed advisers withheld the fact­ that the manager’s family were the real owners of the shell firm.

Mourinho, 53, is said to have earned more than £120million in salary since he came to the Premier League as the Chelsea coach in 2004.

The allegations are understood to surround image rights earnings during his time as Chelsea manager until 2007, and at Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013.

It is claimed he placed £10million into a Swiss account owned by a British Virgin Islands (BVI) firm.

The Sunday Times says Mourinho and Ronaldo also used bank accounts and firms in Ireland, Switzerland and New Zealand to process substantial earnings for image rights.

Meg Hillier added: “It is important the tax authorities take a really close look at what’s gone on and we will be raising this with them on Wednesday.”

HMRC said in recent years it had identified more than £80million in additional tax due from image rights.