referee blows for time
When I read of the plight of over one hundred highly-paid and internationally known footballers, I almost felt sorry for them. Almost. Apparently, the footballers, including recently retired Premiership League players, are experiencing severe financial difficulty, with many facing potential bankruptcy following recent HMRC demands for the repayment of huge disputed tax relief. Players who earned (or were at least paid) million-pound-plus salaries now face losing everything.
The footballers have become very visible targets in a well-overdue crackdown by her majesty’s finest on what it believes is blatant tax avoidance via a variety of schemes which sought to take huge advantage of tax reliefs aimed at British film industry investments. Personally, I think the line between ‘avoidance’ and ‘evasion’ is a very blurred line and avoidance is the lesser of the two evils, even though the evasion may well have been the ultimate goal. ‘Investors’ in these schemes include David Beckham, Gary Lineker, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. Lesser players were apparently exceptionally keen to follow the ‘tax reducing’ lead of their elders & betters and did so without concern, disclosure or diligence. One for all, and all for one.
The standard schemes, which have indeed helped produce some half-decent films including Shaun of the Dead and Hotel Rwanda, gave a large upfront payment of public money, but it was effectively only deferring tax due in later years and many ‘investors’ are now finding they don’t have the cash to pay the demands that are now rolling in. The investment amount was matched by an equal loan from public money and the value of each film was then written down over the first year, which produced tax relief at the higher 40% level. The HMRC, bolstered by the sterner more aggressive, post-banking collapse view to tax evasi…er, avoidance, estimates the tax that was immorally offset amounts to a cool billion pounds!
Needless to say it’s been a bit of a shock to those footballing celebrities to receive sudden, massive tax demands but in the eyes of the law ignorance is no defence and ‘don’t blame me, he told me to do it’ even less so. They were all very happy to be guided by those who told them they were going to avoid having to shell-out for large amounts of tax, and they undoubtedly would have further enjoyed the boost to their income this tax relief provided. And the final kick in the shins to the rest of us was delivered by one of their anonymous agents who explained that ‘although the players earned salaries way beyond the realities of ordinary people, the consequent size of tax bills leads richer people to resent paying tax more than the less well paid’. Eh? Did I hear that right? Yep, well if you hadn’t been paid it then you would be liable for it, and if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime! Still feel sorry? Nah, not for one second of extra time.
