"Taxstappen might be my new favorite nickname" - Fans react to reports of Max Verstappen being accused of tax evasion

Max Verstappen has been recently accused of not paying taxes in his home country, the Netherlands, by living lavishly in Monaco, where no personal income tax or capital gains tax applies.

According to Dutch daily newspaper publisher De Volkskrant, the reigning F1 world champion's tax benefit by 2028 will skyrocket to a whopping €200 million over 13 years.

Since he currently earns €64 million per year, around 49.5 percent of his income should go as income tax in the Netherlands. According to his manager, Max Verstappen does pay any and all types of taxes whenever he races in the Dutch GP.

Of course, this type of news about the Red Bull driver spread like wildfire on various social media platforms. While some Twitter users made fun of the Dutchman and changed his name to add 'tax' in front of it, others gave a serious explanation of how he technically does not have to pay for all the income except for when he races in the Netherlands.

Here are some of the reactions:

"Taxstappen might be my new favorite nickname for goldie boots," one fan tweeted.

"Half the grid lives in Monaco to avoid paying income tax, but somehow Max Verstappen is getting called out for it. Go figure," another fan tweeted.

Of course, many F1 drivers spend most of their off-season lives in Monaco. Hence, most of them do not pay any taxes whenever they are living and earning there.

Although Max Verstappen's manager has spoken against the accusations and assured that the driver pays all types of taxes whenever he races in certain countries with tax rules, there are still questions about what goes on behind closed doors.

There could be more news regarding this in the coming weeks. As of now, nothing can be said for sure whether Max Verstappen is at fault or not.

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Max Verstappen would like other F1 drivers and teams fighting at the front

Max Verstappen is absolutely dominating F1 at the moment. The Dutchman is comfortably leading the drivers' championship and has won five out of seven races in the 2023 season so far.

However, he somewhat feels lonely up there and expressed how he would like to have other teams and drivers fighting in the front row. The Red Bull driver also stated how it would be great for the sport and would offer more thrilling racing to the fans.

“Yeah, I think it’s great for the sport in general right, if you have more teams fighting up front. Honestly, that would be amazing, to have more drivers really up there. Hopefully throughout the year it will get closer and maybe next year there are more teams really up there,” Verstappen was quoted as saying by F1.com.

The reigning world champion continues to lead the championship table with 170 points. His Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, is in second place with only 117 points.