The tax gap that attracts stars to Italy and England and worries LaLiga

The gap between the taxes paid by the great soccer stars in Spain with respect to Italy and the United Kingdom worries LaLiga, which calculates that its 'cracks' can pay 60% more with the same salary than a rival of the Premier or Series A, according to a report commissioned by the employer.

The differences in the taxation of the salary they receive from their clubs and income from image rights, and tax changes in countries like Italy, which have improved the conditions for those who pay taxes on international income - for example, the large advertising contracts of the stars-, have been underlined by the president of the employer,

, on several occasions.

"In the field of football we are taxically

. In England, France and Italy there is a better treatment of the income of athletes and that causes a flight of talent to these countries," he said in June during a business summit of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE).

To verify these differences, LaLiga has raised, in an internal document that EFE has had access to, the assumption of a player with a world star salary (25 million euros net per year), five years of contract and that he receives for 50 million annual for image rights, 40 of them from abroad.

That player, according to the calculations made by the employers' association in the light of a comparative study carried out by the

law firm

, would pay a tax of 215.1 million in Spain with the same earnings (106.3 million for his salary and 108, 8 for image rights), compared to the 130.4 million that would be paid to the Italian treasury (107.7 for salary and 22.7 per image) or the 120.7 to the UK treasury (98.7 for the salary and 22 per image).

A difference that the clubs endure, which agree with the stars net salaries, which makes them less competitive.

Beckham Law

The reasons for the difference are due to the tax regimes applied by these countries: Italy approved in 2017 legislation aimed at attracting large wealth that allows a player to pay a fixed amount of 100,000 euros on his income from abroad, and can even apply that regime to their relatives.

"They have copied the Spanish 'Beckham Law', establishing conditions that make many players go to play there", explains to EFE the expert in Tax Law Félix Plaza, partner of the Tax Law department and head of the Sports Law department in the office Garrigues.

For its part, in the United Kingdom they have two advantages, the 'split year rule' that allows taxation only from the month they arrive in the country (something common for players signed in July), and the possibility that those not Residents are only taxed on income generated in the country, so they do not have to pay image rights abroad or earnings with their selection as long as they do not transfer that money to the United Kingdom.

"For this reason, the big stars that have exploitation of image rights abroad have this exempt income in the United Kingdom," says the expert.

What is the situation in Spain?

From 2005 to 2010, the special regime for displaced workers - popularly known as' Beckham Law because its approval coincided with the arrival of the English footballer to Real Madrid-, allowed foreign footballers to pay 24% for the first 600,000 euros instead of the 43%, but in 2010 players were excluded from that regime.

Regarding

, in the 90s it was regulated that footballers could declare part of their earnings through a company without exceeding 15% of their emoluments, but in recent years it has begun to be considered that these transfers of Image rights had to be done at market prices.

"This means that in the end there is no special regime, because all that has to be taxed in income," says Félix Plaza.

"Generate more income"

The expert from the Garrigues law firm considers that, to continue attracting foreign 'cracks', the authorities should consider two measures: tax image rights as income from savings, to avoid the problems that companies generate, and return to a regime similar to the 'Beckham Law', which will facilitate the arrival of international stars.

How is it explained to the public opinion of a country that a worker, the footballer, who earns millions of euros is going to pay an average rate of 24% while another who earns less but exceeds 60,000 euros per year can pay an average rate 45%?

"This issue must be viewed from the point of view of generating more direct or indirect income in Spain as a result of the best players coming. That is, selling my audiovisual rights for 2,500 million instead of 1,800, having more expensive sponsorships. Everything That interests me, because the clubs and LaLiga pay taxes for that, more spending is generated, more jobs. Above all, you increase the value of the clubs and LaLiga, "says the tax expert.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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