Turkey remains tax haven for footballers due to unfair tax system
Although this summer’s football transfer window has been one of the busiest ever, question marks have been raised once again over Turkey’s flawed tax system, under which multimillionaire football stars contribute a lower percentage of their salary to the state budget than public sector workers.
The transfer window in Turkey opens every year with lots of gossip, much of which later fails to come true. Every year, rumors detail arrivals from the richest European leagues to Turkey’s premier division, the Super League. Brazil legend Ronaldinho was often rumored to be on his way and this year, according to the back pages of Turkish newspapers, Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o seemed to have signed with three Turkish clubs at the same time.
Turkish football fans have read the same rumors ever since the transfer window opened early in June this year. With more than a month until it closes, however, this summer has seen many rumors turning out to be true. Even so, the trend has not changed. An improbable Anatolian team, Antalyaspor, finally managed to acquire Eto’o, who is now aged 34. Vowing to get Ronaldinho — aged 35 — and goalkeeper Victor Valdes — aged 33– Antalya has set its sights on reuniting the dream team that played in the Barcelona jersey in 2006.
This year’s Super League champion Galatasaray secured German forward Lukas Podolski, who is aged 30. The champion’s archrival Fenerbahçe announced on Thursday that it had started talks with 31-year-old Robin van Persie after signing Portugal winger Luis Nani. Among other world stars who have come to Turkey in recent years are Didier Drogba, Dirk Kuyt, Oscar Cardozo, Wesley Sneijder, Fernando Muslera, Stephane Mbia, Ryan Babel, Ricardo Quaresma, Guti Hernandez, Emmanuel Eboue, Roberto Carlos, Florent Malouda, Raul Meireles, Manuel Fernandes and Felipe Melo.
Turkey, along with other Asian countries, has always been perceived as the last resort for foreign players who have already left the peak of their careers behind. The reason why they prefer Turkey is mostly the taxation system of the country, where they proportionately pay even less tax than an average public-sector worker, who earns TL 2,200. While public-sector workers pay some 27 percent of their annual gross income in taxes in Turkey, football players in the top Turkish division pay only 15 percent.
In Sweden, football players in the top tax bracket pay 56.9 percent of their annual income in tax. The corresponding figure is 56.5 percent in Portugal, 52 percent in Spain, 50.3 percent in France, 47.9 percent in Italy, 47.5 percent in Germany and 45 percent in the UK. While Bulgaria stands at the bottom of the list with 10 percent, Turkey comes in second place, along with Lithuania.
Turkey’s disproportionate tax system is often discussed due to its unfair structure. Responding to a question on his Twitter account, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said: “Concessions for football players and in other areas were abolished in the new tax bill that we submitted to Parliament two years ago.” Yet the minister has failed to give an answer to economics Professor Eser Karakaş, who asked him: “[Then] why has the draft not come to the plenary session of Parliament yet?”
