Footballers struggling through end of tax dodging schemes

Tammer

Hi,


I read the following article in yesterday's Guardian. It was interesting as it said that the footballers may have claimed up to £1 billion in tax relief (potentially illegally if the schemes are found to be invalid). This is a horrendous total, particularly when you consider then reductions taking place elsewhere in public services etc.


Also, an unnamed agent said that rich people resent paying tax more than ordinary people as their bills are so high....hmmm....


http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/23/footballers-tax-demands-hmrc

Pennywise

Still not the whole picture.

Even their "legitimate" taxed income is tarnished by tax avoidance. The highest paid ones use a limited company into which are paid "image rights" alongside a much lower "pay" which is subject to usual employment tax and NIC. So they get payroll for kicking a ball (relatively low amounts) and huge "image rights" fees paid into the footballer's own limited company.

Then you factor in the non domiciled and/or foreign players who arrange their training and matches so that they're not in the UK long enough to be resident for UK taxes at all!

Not just footballers though. Pop stars, film stars, TV personalities all play the same game. That's why you get pop stars having world tours (look at the typical dates and timescales!) and living in Switzerland allegedly for inspiration!! Wastn't it David Frost who only came into the UK one day per week to do his Sunday show and then beggared off again same day so that he'd never be UK resident, so no UK tax liability!

The tax-evasion schemes are to zeroise the UK tax on their *far smaller* uk taxable incomes, so the true amount of tax evaded is probably far higher than they're talking about!

Spidernick

Good reply until 'zeroise' - seen it all now!