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Beckham faces glare of French taxman

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28th Feb 2013
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He might be the man with the golden right foot, but not even David Beckham is exempt from the taxman's glare. 

The former Real Madrid player has just played his first game for his new club Paris Saint-Germaine and pledged to give his salary to charity. 

But France's fiscal administration are concerned that Becks has an ulterior motive - that of dodging tax.

PSG has received a lot of requests for Beckham's £700,000 charity salary, according to Jean-Claude Black, the club's managing director.  

The Sun reported a representative for the star said that Beckham had "nothing to hide" and that he has given any income he would have earned to charity. 

They also said the French Treasury said they couldn't discuss individual cases, but that any high-worth individual working in France would be scrutinised. 

By giving his money to charity, Beckham would avoid paying the 75% tax which the French government are currently bringing in.

Football finance professional Tom Markham said PSG and Beckham were "very clever" to donate his five month salary to charity. 

"The club will benefit significantly from media coverage and merchandising sales that are part and parcel of 'brand Beckham," he said. 

"Both Beckham and the club benefit from a CSR perspective based on the goodwill generated by the significant charitable donation.

"On top of this, Beckham keeps himself in the spotlight, which will result in further promotional contracts without having to worry about the 75% tax rate that drove a number of individuals, including Gerard Depardieu out of France."

 

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By jmwaa
11th Mar 2013 14:37

'Avoiding' paying tax?

Beckham may not pay tax at 75% on salary given to charity.  But he has given away 100% of his salary, so how is he 'avoiding' anything?

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By duncanphilpstate
12th Mar 2013 16:33

Viewing it as marketing costs?

Well if tax is at 75% then what he is really foregoing is 25% of his notional salary. While I personally would appreciate that in my pocket, he's got other sources of income which as the article indicates could actually be enhanced by the publicity around this charitable donation.

For instance, the article mentions the merchandising around "Brand Beckham" - which is by no means restricted to soccer (remember him endorsing Police sunglasses? Flashing his own-name underwear?). So long as he can believe his income from those sources goes up by more than the missing 25% (and is preferaby treated as outside France), he's in the money.

You've got to look at it holistically.

 

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