lunes, 17 de enero de 2011

Wayne Rooney and top players use tax loophole - Mirror.co.uk

Tax loophole star Wayne Rooney faced a £623,000 bill on a slice of his earnings – but coughed up just £25,000.

The Man United idol, 25, paid himself £1.6million through his image rights firm, incurring a measly 2% tax – even though the top rate was then 40%.

England team-mate Gareth Barry, 29, paid just £6,000 tax on £373,000 when he might have been hit by a £142,000 Inland Revenue bill.

They are among dozens of super-rich footballers who have parts of their wages paid into image rights companies.

Some then pay themselves from the firms at just 2% tax as they are deemed directors' loans – avoiding the current 50% top rate.

The scheme is legal but will be a kick in the teeth for millions of ordinary supporters who pay tax at normal rates. Finance expert Peter Fairchild explained: "In tax terms, taking a director's loan from an image rights company is very, very efficient.

"If the player wants to put £100,000 in his hand he can do so and only pay around £2,000 tax.

"Consequently, a lot of players have followed this advice."

The loans can be repaid in the future, when the 50% rate may have been cut.

The star's firm then writes off the borr­owing so the cash is treated as earnings and taxed at the new lower top rate.

But some players may instead fold their image firms to avoid tax completely.

Apart from the 2% tax ruse, other terrace favourites use image rights so they legally pay just 28% on earnings.

They are said to include England household names Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Theo Walcott, David James and Michael Owen.

Newcastle goal hero Andy Carroll, Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Rooney's Old Trafford team-mate Darren Fletcher are believed to be among others.

The taxman is now probing the expensive loophole. But it makes a mockery of Chancellor George Osborne's claim that the country is "all in this together" as hard-working families are battered by the deficit crisis.

Last year's hike in the top tax bracket to 50% saw several footballers hurriedly set up image companies to handle their mer­chandising income.

Many now have two contracts with their club, one for playing and the other for image rights.

PFA players' union supremo Gordon Taylor defended the scheme and said only a few top names had such lucrative deals.

He insisted: "Footballers have a limited career and it is up to them and their advisers to make their earnings as tax-efficient as possible. A majority of players are on Pay As You Earn and are paying the 50% top rate of tax with National Insurance on top of that.

"But a few star players do have image rights deals where they get money for shirts sold with their names on the back and the like.

"These aren't subject to PAYE. But there is nothing illegal and they are all working to the law."

This is not the first time the taxman has investigated how soccer stars exploit merchandising earnings to slash taxes.

But it lost a landmark case in 2000 when Arsenal's David Platt and Dennis Bergkamp successfully argued that image rights cash paid into offshore accounts was for pension funds. A Rooney aide said his firms were legitimate and followed both the letter and the spirit of the law.

Voice of the Mirror: Page 8

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