Seems the thing that the more money people get, the more they want to hold on to it (and are able to, because they can afford decent accountants..)

I hadn't realised that Spain's tax laws were so stringent. I knew that France's were.

vizier wrote: They changed the tax laws recently under IMF instruction AFAIK. Messi pays 52% tax on his income. The amount he's 'evading' here will be related to endorsements.

Having said that, Britain is equally bad that's why you're not seeing any of the top players, apart from Murray, at Queen's this year because they get taxed so heavily none of them want to play here any more.

Which kind of reiterates the point I was making. These guys earn shitloads, but don't want to lose so much in Tax, so they won't play the smaller tournaments. Whereas all of us PAYE fodder, just get it taken at source.
Beckham playing for PSG for a year for charity was actually a tax dodge as he would have been tax on worldwide earnings for the year had he been paid in France.. (presumably the same happens over here then).

vizier wrote: They changed the tax laws recently under IMF instruction AFAIK. Messi pays 52% tax on his income. The amount he's 'evading' here will be related to endorsements.

Having said that, Britain is equally bad that's why you're not seeing any of the top players, apart from Murray, at Queen's this year because they get taxed so heavily none of them want to play here any more.

Lionel Messi and his father have paid €5 million (£4.2m) to Spanish authorities as part of an investigation into alleged tax fraud, a court statement has revealed.

The Barcelona star was accused of "hiding" more than €4m (£3.4m) earlier this year having failed to file complete tax returns between 2006 and 2009, although both the 26-year-old and his senior denied all wrongdoing.

A court in Gava has now confirmed that the duo have made a "corrective payment" of €5,016,542.27, though they will still be required to attend a legal hearing on September 17.

"We have our lawyers and our wealth managers to take care of that and we trust them and they will sort this out," Messi said of the issue earlier this summer.

"The truth is that I don't have a clue about all this and that is why we have people taking care of it."

Messi earns a combined total of more than €40m (£33.8m) per year through wages and sponsorship deals, placing him 10th on the latest Forbes rich list for athletes.

The Argentina international is not the only top-level football professional to become embroiled in tax problems this year. At the end of July, Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness was formally charged with tax fraud after failing to declare on a Swiss bank account.

The Professional Union of Football Clubs has said that the 75 percent tax on salaries that France is enforcing to fill its depleted financial coffers, risks to 'kill' French football.

According to CNN, teams are threatening to boycott matches in protest, and the controversy was sparked when President Francois Hollande refused to exclude soccer clubs from the hefty tax, after meeting with industry representatives on Thursday.

The Socialist leader's assault on top earners is part of efforts to shrink France's massive budget deficit and support the sagging economy, the report said.

Employers must pay the levy on salaries exceeding 1 million euros a year and will apply for two years, the report added.

The league plans to strike in protest later this month, the first boycott of its kind in more than 40 years, the report further said.

French clubs are already under financial strain amid declining ticket sales and reduced incomes from television rights, according to the report.

They argue the tax will make the league less competitive and fear losing players to high-paying European rivals, the report mentioned.