Top footballers are one of the targets in a clampdown on tax avoidance announced by George Osborne in the Budget.
One of the devices being used by footballers is what is known as ‘disguised renumeration’. This involves the use of tax efficient loans to senior employees through offshore trusts. The benefits including avoiding the top income tax rate of 50 per cent. They have increasingly been employed in the renumeration structures of top footballers.
Top footballers are one of the targets in a clampdown on tax avoidance announced by George Osborne in the Budget.
One of the devices being used by footballers is what is known as ‘disguised renumeration’. This involves the use of tax efficient loans to senior employees through offshore trusts. The benefits including avoiding the top income tax rate of 50 per cent. They have increasingly been employed in the renumeration structures of top footballers.
A typical scheme involves loans paid to trusts registered in offshore jurisdictions such as the Channel Islands. The footballer’s family are often named as beneficiaries. Tax is payable only on the interest received on the loan, usually about 4 per cent. The company making the ‘loan’ never asks for it to be repaid.