Post date: Apr 02, 2013 3:39:30 PM
France's revamped 75 percent "supertax" will apply to football clubs for players with salaries of over a million euros a year, and is "not good" for French football, Paris St Germain president says.
PARIS, FRANCE (APRIL 1, 2013) (REUTERS) - France's revamped 75 percent supertax on salaries above one million euros will apply to all companies and France's football clubs, officials in the prime minister's office said on Tuesday (April 2).
President Francois Hollande last week presented a revised version of the tax that applies directly to firms paying out the highest salaries, after the Constitutional Court rejected an initial plan to impose the levy on the individuals themselves.Wealthy clubs such as Qatari-owned Paris St Germain (PSG) may be able to keep paying top salaries for stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but many smaller clubs paying one or two stars above one million euros could struggle with the higher tax bill.
"We are a French football club, if the law says that we have to pay 75 percent we will do it, we are inFrance so we pay our taxes, but I think it's not good for French football, it's not good for French football clubs and it's not good for the promotion of the (French) Ligue 1 in the world, I think 75 is a lot," PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on France Info radio on Monday.
Les Echos business daily reported, citing finance ministry sources, that the tax could raise 500 million euros per year, double the previous version, and apply to just under 1,000 people versus 1,500 for the initial one.
There has been an outcry over the tax, which Hollande first unveiled in last year's presidential campaign, with those in the sports, entertainment and finance sectors arguing it would hurt their ability to recruit top-notch talent from around the world.
But on the streets of Paris, the supertax came as no surprise.
"I won't shed a tear about football, to be frank it's not my favourite sport but when you see the amounts they earn, it's too much, too much. So if they can give back a bit, especially in this time of crisis, we need to help each other, it's a minimum," said one Parisian.