Bill Gates !

well known fact that richer you get, less % you pay, via all kinds of loopholes and access to methods to avoid paying taxes.

This jc

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i9/benmac_2006/DSC00222.jpg[...

Here's a footballers payslip from a few years ago, £120k per week - £57,119.95 deducted in PAYE and NI.

but what that doesnt tell ou about is capital gains, and the holding company he has set up to take profit from named merchandise and photos etc

Aye but thats not superrich. Capital gains tax(18-28%*), dividend tax (~42.5% at the top tier) and tax deductibles are what its all about.

*Even lower if selling your own business or shares in it.

so 60 odd grand a week to get by on. oooh, nasty. Plus sponsorship deals?

Maybe not, but the point still stands about them paying a huge amount of tax every month.

Yep

Football salaries are insane.

But all of the instruments described above to avoid paying as much tax are available to anyone. Setting up holding and ltd companies is not the preserve of the rich, it's the preserve of those that are bothered enough to do some research (the rich just pay someone to do the research for them).

Where did you get my Wage slip you bas***d !!!!!!!!!!

Worth every penny Mark.

Student loan??

Are there any prof footballers who have a degree?

I'm surprised if that is a bona fide footballers wage slip, as I certainly wouldn't expect a footballer to be "working" on a PAYE basis. However, if it is genuine it seems that footballers are employed in the least tax-efficient method possible.

Funny you shoukld ask that, there was a piece in the Guardian the other day...

FOOTBALLERS WITH DEGREES (3)
Over the last couple of weeks (here and here) we've been looking at footballers with degrees and they keep on coming. Several readers pointed us in the direction of the Barcelona full-back and economics graduate Oleguer Presas. Sid Lowe takes up the story:

A crowd gathers in the sunshine at the Camp Nou, hoping for a glimpse of their heroes - a fleet of luxury cars pulling away to cheering and applause. A BMW here, a Mercedes there, a Hummer, a Ferrari, a Porsche or two ... and a van. Yes, a van. It is not your typical footballer's car, but then the driver is not your typical footballer.

Oleguer Presas rejects suggestions that he's different and is uncomfortable with labels. Sitting in the bowels of the Camp Nou while he explains his beliefs in a soft, thoughtful voice, it is apparent that facile descriptions do him little justice, but there's no escaping the fact that he stands out - and not just because of the beard. Instead, Oleguer stands out because he speaks out.

The Barça right-back is a committed campaigner, an economics graduate who contributes to cultural and political journals with carefully elaborated articles, he supports Catalan literacy crusades and Catalan independence, and dedicated the only goal of his career to a fourteen year old from Sabadell who had been arrested for protesting against the mayor. He is the author of a book called Camí d'Itaca (The Road to Ithaca), which deals with everything from the Franco years to the war on terror and even anorexia.

He is also the author of an article entitled De Bona Fe (In Good Faith), which was published in Directa, a Catalan social journal, and then in the Basque newspaper Berria. In the article, Oleguer questions the independence of the Spanish judiciary, using the ETA terrorist Ignacio De Juana Chaos as an example of the hypocrisy of the system. It is a system he distrusts, right down to its party political representatives, insisting: "No party represents me. I feel closer to civil society than political parties; the only thing they really want from the people is a vote every four years. That's not the democracy I believe in."

You can read the full 2007 article here. And finally Richard Prangle suggests Dr Ceri Evans, a 56-cap New Zealand international and Oxford United early 90s defensive stalwart who is more educated than Glyn Hodges' left foot. Evans has a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Otago, Master of Arts in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University, Master of Science with Merit in Psychiatric Research and Methods from the University of London, and a PhD in Forensic Psychiatry from the University of London.

http://chem-eng.blogspot.com/2008/10/premiership-footballer-wa...

Solid.