Once again, Barcelona find themselves back at the centre of court action over tax affairs. As reported by Radio Barcelona, Barça have seen the National High Court dismiss the appeal they made against a Tax Office claim for over payments made to football agents.

"Deliberate simulation"

According to Spain’s Tax Office, the Catalan entity acted fraudulently by using simulated payments, as it was the club who were in charge of paying their players’ agents fees when they should have been paid by the players themselves. The court found that the Tax Agency was right when it argued that this amounted to a "deliberate simulation".

Full screen FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu leaves Spain's High Court on February 13, 2015 in Madrid Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno (Getty Images)

€61,363 fine

The original Tax Office investigation dates back to a period between 2006 and 2008. Specifically, the first sanction that Barcelona has received corresponds to 2008 and amounts to 61,363 euros. Extra fines corresponding to incidents during 2006 and 2007 have not yet been made known.

To try and resolve the situation and maintain a joint defense strategy, Barcelona’s club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, travelled this week to Madrid to meet with leaders of the Association of Spanish Footballers.