Should (English) footballers pay more tax?

johnos

Interesting comment on the bloated English Premiership.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2192223,00.html

Vokes

He said he did not think that higher taxes would make more footballers play abroad, and quoted Thierry Henry as saying that England was the best place to play football.

Silly man, of course the better players will move abroad to where the money is.

jobonar

SofaKing wrote:

Silly man, of course the better players will move abroad to where the money is.

I agree! there are far too many footballers motivated by money in this day and age! Micheal Ballack for example!

growler

jobonar wrote:

I agree! there are far too many footballers motivated by money in this day and age! Micheal Ballack for example!

shock professional motivated by money, how weird ! !


and no, they shouldn't pay more tax, because then they'll want more money to ensure their earnings stay the same, and fans will end up picking up the tab.

Vokes

Excellent point there, growler.

jobonar wrote:

Micheal Ballack for example!

Nahhh, he wanted to play in a better league and have a genuine shot at winning the CL. Although, im sure the money won't do him any harm

A Dub in Glasgo

This is nothing to do with football, anybody who is on a very high income should be taxed more

Guy:Incognito

We're hardly in a position to give out about others not payign tax. Does that stupid law still stand here where artist (or anyone rich and famous) doesnt pay tax? I mean racing drivers, bono etc, wtf?

SofaKing wrote:

Nahhh, he wanted to play in a better league and have a genuine shot at winning the CL. Although, im sure the money won't do him any harm

He already won one with Bayern, did he not?

PHB

It's good to see the catholic church doing what they do best, giving out to people who have no real effect in the world all in the name of intention.

jobonar

growler wrote:

shock professional motivated by money, how weird ! !

QUOTE]

but players moving to teams that they wont get thier game for just cos thy want more money! i think any footballer who has a passion for the game should move clubs by how much they will play and trphies they can win. money shouldnt some into it.

a player playing for a big club having his contract renewed shouldnt hold the club to ransom over new higher wages! thy should stay for the love of the club and fans and because he enjoys playing there! not for the amount of money that can be made from the club!

The Rooster

But the guy earning £130 per week is probably not paying a penny in tax (and rightly so). When Michael Ballack becomes UK resident he will be paying over £50,000 a week in tax. Thats a big contribution, and a fair share in my opinion.

Putting super tax on higher earnings achieves little. It'll either act as a deterrent for people to do the work to achieve their high earnings or encourage them to come up with schemes to pay less tax, or move abroad altogether and contribute to somebody else's economy.

I think Bono is exempt from tax on royalties received from songs he writes. He pays tax in relation to any covers they do and any concert income. I guess he pays a large amount of Irish tax. If there was no artists exemption, would Bono still live in Ireland? If Ireland abolished the artists exemption we could well lose more tax than we gain.

A bit like when the capital gains tax rate was halved to 20%, tax receipts shot up.

Racing drivers are not exempt from tax. Although I believe anyone who is not resident in Ireland (i.e. spends less than half the year here) only pays Irish tax on money they bring into the country.

johnos

PHB wrote:

It's good to see the catholic church doing what they do best, giving out to people who have no real effect in the world all in the name of intention.

This chap's Anglican (the S. Times omits this, using the same sectarian convention that Irish newspapers apply to Catholic clerics).
Anyway, I think it's a fair point. The massive wealth and celebrity of someone like Beckham illustrates well the concept that football has become a corporatised, globalised affair and has strayed far from its original roots and role.

super_furry

SofaKing wrote:

Excellent point there, growler.

Nahhh, he wanted to play in a better league and have a genuine shot at winning the CL. Although, im sure the money won't do him any harm

He's more chance of winning it at Bayern than Chelsea.

growler

[QUOTE=jobonar
but players moving to teams that they wont get thier game for just cos thy want more money! i think any footballer who has a passion for the game should move clubs by how much they will play and trphies they can win. money shouldnt some into it.

a player playing for a big club having his contract renewed shouldnt hold the club to ransom over new higher wages! thy should stay for the love of the club and fans and because he enjoys playing there! not for the amount of money that can be made from the club![/QUOTE]

which planet is this on ?

You and I and everyone who posts here, anyone who buys a scarf or a ticket are the ultimate mugs, we have a love for the game and for our respective teams, I don't believe for a second that any more than a minute percentage of players in the EPL give a flying fvck about anything more than the money. And I don't really blame them either, I have no emotional attachment to my employers , I want them to pay me as much as I can possibly squeeze out of the bast@rds and if another company comes along that offers me more..i'll be off like a shot unless they match the offer.

It's nice to win medals and awards but I'll take the cash anyday. There may well be a few noble exceptions to this rule but they must have the wrong agents.

That said, I renewed my season ticket today, just want to win a CL and then I'll quit ( of course I said the same about winning the prem too!! )

therecklessone

johnos wrote:

I think it's a fair point. The massive wealth and celebrity of someone like Beckham illustrates well the concept that football has become a corporatised, globalised affair and has strayed far from its original roots and role.

Why does he only mention footballers?

Why not musicians? Why not Hollywood actors? Why not exceptionally high earners in the business world?

Where should we draw the line? I'm sure the Archbishop makes more in salary and expenses than a lowly C of E vicar, so why doesn't he lead the line?

The Rooster wrote:

But the guy earning £130 per week is probably not paying a penny in tax (and rightly so). When Michael Ballack becomes UK resident he will be paying over £50,000 a week in tax. Thats a big contribution, and a fair share in my opinion.

Well said.

johnos

therecklessone wrote:

Why does he only mention footballers?

It's so unfair!

astrofool

Taxing the rich is ultimately self defeating, as they are also the most able to move from country to country to where tax is less (hence why alot only spend 3 months a year in a country). If rich people get taxed to the hilt, the net effect is less tax as they move country. France for example has a bizarre tax level for the rich in which, if they have alot of assets, actually end up paying more in tax than they earn in the year. The result has been that alot of them have now moved to belgium and commute by TGV each day to Paris (45 mins).

They were going to change the law a while ago so that rich people got taxed less, so they would live in France, and hence increase France's tax income from rich people, but they decided against it as it wouldn't get through France's socialist system, taxing the rich is always a good way to get "The Sun", and its equivilent's, readers to vote for you. (source: The Economist)

Either way, if they increased their tax, it would just mean either the clubs paying more, and charging more to the fans (the players will look at the net income, everything else being equal), or less footballers coming to the premiership, as they can earn more elsewhere.

WhiteWashMan

i fail to see why someone who is more fortunate in life should subsidise anyone who is less fortunate.

i certainly see the frustration, but its misdirected. its a social issue, not a football issue.

BaZmO*

jobonar wrote:

a player playing for a big club having his contract renewed shouldnt hold the club to ransom over new higher wages! thy should stay for the love of the club and fans and because he enjoys playing there! not for the amount of money that can be made from the club!

Is this the same club that would drop a player quicker than a hot snot if they were to become injured in such a way that they couldn't play again? Footballers are employees out to get the best package for themselves. Loyalty is not as important as it used to be.

Andrew 83

Stekelly wrote:

He already won one with Bayern, did he not?

No he joined them in I think 2002 and Bayern won the CL in either 200 or 2001. He definitely hasn't won it.

I think that footballers should pay the same tax as anyone else who earns the same as them. For instance a footballer on 1,000 per week should pay the same as anyone else on that and a footballer on 130,000 likewise. It's up to society and the governmetn etc to decide how much anyone who earns that much should pay no matter what their profession.

Fighting Irish

jobonar wrote:

I agree! there are far too many footballers motivated by money in this day and age! Micheal Ballack for example!

:eek:


like most people who live in this world, at the end of the day its all about making a living and making money

DerekD Goldfish

Does that stupid law still stand here where artist (or anyone rich and famous) doesnt pay tax? I

your talking about the artist exempton Limit
Previously individuals did not have to pay tax coming from artisic sources but still had to pay on non artistic. so bono wouldnt have paid tax on royalties but would on income from investments like the clarance.
In the last budget the gov imposed a cap on artist exemption(I think its 255k) so anything below that is not taxable anything abovbe it is taxable as normal.

In Ireland footballers and other sportspeople pay relitivly less than than an other individual earning the same income as normaly you are allowed to put 15%(if under 30) of your income intoa pension and get a tax deduction for it while as a spors person you can put 30% into a pension and get a tax duduction (The same as if you were over 50) as sports people generaly have shorter working lives and need to provide more for thier future