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Why don't we just tax footballers and other sportsmen?
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OP, do you not understand capitalism and why we are annoyed at bankers?
This is it in a nutshell:
Footballers are in demand, but there aren't much of them so they are paid record amounts of money by companies- The supply and demand theory. They aren't subsidised by gov't meaning they cost us nothing. If you raise taxes, many people will quite simply go abroad whilst still retaining British citizenship
Some of the banks in the UK are taxpayer owned ie: northen rock, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and RBS. The banks were the people who got us in to the recession(first point why people were annoyed at them) The banks received a bailout, and the bankers received higher bonuses. This was another reason why people were annoyed with them. First, they've caused the recession, secondly they are happy to take bail outs and then finally they give bigger bonuses(Remember,all this is paid for by the taxpayer) Football is not paid for by tax, but bailouts are.
The good news however is that they have paid £75 billion/£158 billion back in the last month according to the Metro and have to pay the rest of by 2012
Footballers are paid more than they "should" Live with it!
This is it in a nutshell:
Footballers are in demand, but there aren't much of them so they are paid record amounts of money by companies- The supply and demand theory. They aren't subsidised by gov't meaning they cost us nothing. If you raise taxes, many people will quite simply go abroad whilst still retaining British citizenship
Some of the banks in the UK are taxpayer owned ie: northen rock, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and RBS. The banks were the people who got us in to the recession(first point why people were annoyed at them) The banks received a bailout, and the bankers received higher bonuses. This was another reason why people were annoyed with them. First, they've caused the recession, secondly they are happy to take bail outs and then finally they give bigger bonuses(Remember,all this is paid for by the taxpayer) Football is not paid for by tax, but bailouts are.
The good news however is that they have paid £75 billion/£158 billion back in the last month according to the Metro and have to pay the rest of by 2012
Footballers are paid more than they "should" Live with it!
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by Swayum
How is 40-50% high for someone earning 100k a week when that same tax is applied to someone earning 200k a year?
They add no real productivity to our world besides entertainment (compared with a doctor, let's say). I am proposing that sportsmen should earn less than doctors per year, not just in UK, but around the world.
They add no real productivity to our world besides entertainment (compared with a doctor, let's say). I am proposing that sportsmen should earn less than doctors per year, not just in UK, but around the world.
They don't add productivity? Hundreds of thousands of people pay for tickets to see Man Utd every year. Thousands of people will pay for extortionate prices for a Utd shirt with Rooney printed on the back. Footballers earn millions of pounds for their teams and that's why they're payed extremely high wages. Infact, I think it is difficult to think of a job that is more productive than that of a premiership footballer.
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by rajandkwameali
We should tax jealousy.
hahaha brilliant post :')
Original post by LawBore
Because, taxing 'the hell' out of footballers worldwide, you're probably going to suffer from a shortage of footballers.
I don't agree with this. People aspire to be footballers for a profession not because of the money in all cases, but because they enjoy the sport. A shortage of footballers? Perhaps. But what you will find is an influx of new footballers that aren't all about sleeping with prostitutes, interested in losing a few million off of their salary for the benefit of the country and playing half-assed football.
Like the OP said, if you can't live off £20,000 a week, you have issues.
Original post by Roo Bix
When I saw the thread title, obviously, it's just un-ethical to tax footballers more. But when you think about how much the taxpayer is taxed, that is un-ethical.
When thinking about this, it's interesting:
Take a team like Tottenham Hotspur for example. They have 27 registered players in their first team squad, with each player earning (give or take) £7,000,000. That's a player net salary of £189,000,000.
This is just one club. There are 44 teams in the Premier League. Of course, each team earns different and has different salaries for each player. But let's take the example and multiply it by 44:
£8,316,000,000.
Let's just say, 10% of that could help bring the country out of deficit.
It just makes you think about teams in other leagues, in other countries. World Poverty eradicated, anyone?
When thinking about this, it's interesting:
Take a team like Tottenham Hotspur for example. They have 27 registered players in their first team squad, with each player earning (give or take) £7,000,000. That's a player net salary of £189,000,000.
This is just one club. There are 44 teams in the Premier League. Of course, each team earns different and has different salaries for each player. But let's take the example and multiply it by 44:
£8,316,000,000.
Let's just say, 10% of that could help bring the country out of deficit.
It just makes you think about teams in other leagues, in other countries. World Poverty eradicated, anyone?
There are not 44 teams in the Premier League.
Most teams do not have 27 players.
Most teams do not spend as much as Tottenham on Players.
No one at Tottenham earns 7 million a year. Actually, virtually no one in the Premiership earns that much.
So your conclusion is inaccurate and stupid.
Original post by Roo Bix
I don't agree with this. People aspire to be footballers for a profession not because of the money in all cases, but because they enjoy the sport. A shortage of footballers? Perhaps. But what you will find is an influx of new footballers that aren't all about sleeping with prostitutes, interested in losing a few million off of their salary for the benefit of the country and playing half-assed football.
Like the OP said, if you can't live off £20,000 a week, you have issues.
Like the OP said, if you can't live off £20,000 a week, you have issues.
The whole thing is just a sort of populist nonsense that is unworkable, like the facebook group saying 'soldiers should be paid footballers' wages'.
Original post by DorianGrayism
There are not 44 teams in the Premier League.
Most teams do not have 27 players.
Most teams do not spend as much as Tottenham on Players.
No one at Tottenham earns 7 million a year. Actually, virtually no one in the Premiership earns that much.
So your conclusion is inaccurate and stupid.
Most teams do not have 27 players.
Most teams do not spend as much as Tottenham on Players.
No one at Tottenham earns 7 million a year. Actually, virtually no one in the Premiership earns that much.
So your conclusion is inaccurate and stupid.
Wiki fail
20 teams then. The point is, we have alot of footballers making alot of money and a small percentage of that money could help contribute to alot of things.
Original post by Roo Bix
Original post by Roo Bix
Wiki fail
20 teams then. The point is, we have alot of footballers making alot of money and a small percentage of that money could help contribute to alot of things.
20 teams then. The point is, we have alot of footballers making alot of money and a small percentage of that money could help contribute to alot of things.
http://www.futebolfinance.com/en/os-50-maiores-salarios-de-jogadores-de-futebol-20092010/
That shows the 50 highest football player salaries. Not many players in the world earn above £7 million a year (I think that's only in terms of what the club is paying them)
Original post by LawBore
Hmmm, this is why the thread's a tricky one. If you applied it to any other high-paying job that isn't inherently fun, what I was saying would sound like common sense. Wrt footballers, it isn't the Premier League/ intl. equivalents that would suffer, but the middle downwards. This is because if you tax footballers as a group at a given rate, it would be by nature regressive. The lower earning footballers would find that they couldn't afford to be footballers. Note that the OP calls for far higher than a 50% rate. If it is only premier footballers, then this provides a strong disincentive for a decent-earning player getting his team promoted.
The whole thing is just a sort of populist nonsense that is unworkable, like the facebook group saying 'soldiers should be paid footballers' wages'.
The whole thing is just a sort of populist nonsense that is unworkable, like the facebook group saying 'soldiers should be paid footballers' wages'.
This is an interesting analysis and there's alot of truth in it. 50% isn't a realistic figure either, a small percentage would suffice greatly, no?
Edit: Thankyou thetopnotch for that link, interesting read. I'm by no means (evidently) a big football fan, it's just there's so many problems with the tax system and the deficit that footballers giving up one Ferrari to help out just seems incredibly selfish to me.
(edited 13 years ago)
I'll never understand how intelligent people are suckered into this "it's not fair that they earn that much!" rubbish. It makes me sad.
within the UK pay for sportsman outside of football is pretty low, a good club (non international) player in rugby will earn at his peak around 60-80,000 maybe a bit less. That's not much money for a player who will will have serious surgery multiple times in his career, and may have serious health problems by their mid 40's
its rare for a rugby player to have a 10 year career and not suffer some form of serious knee, neck, back, hip or shoulder injuries that will have a lasting affect.
----------
and for all the moaning about footballers wages, its always described per week which makes it sound worse then it is. The top players earn at most 7 million per year.
Footballers are entertainers same as actors yet its rare to hear a complaint about what they are paid with the top actors earning close to £50 million or musicians.
its rare for a rugby player to have a 10 year career and not suffer some form of serious knee, neck, back, hip or shoulder injuries that will have a lasting affect.
----------
and for all the moaning about footballers wages, its always described per week which makes it sound worse then it is. The top players earn at most 7 million per year.
Footballers are entertainers same as actors yet its rare to hear a complaint about what they are paid with the top actors earning close to £50 million or musicians.
football players dont get paid by the government. They get however much money people give them by going to their games watching them on TV buying stuff with their name or their teams name on it etc. Doctors do get paid by the government meaning they will get a lot less money. If everyone started wearing shirts with their favorite doctors name on it or watching a show that just followed a doctors life they would make more money to.
Original post by Linzikins
It doesn't take a genius to realise that the more money the public spend on football the higher the wages 
That's not the debate.
That's not the debate.
Was just pointing out the simple reasoning behing the high wages. It's not all about a popularity contest, premier league players have high wages due to their high productivity in terms of entertainment value.
The Government already do place a higher tax on these individuals, as they have a high economic rent. But if it was risen far above 50% or whatever the figure is, then the supply of these footballers will fall in the english market of professional players.
There is a lot of productivity to the UK economy when that kind of money is being earned. A lot of it goes to the government which contributes to a better economy. If the tax increases here, they're more likely to go to another club in Europe (or have an overseas account). Due to the capitalist nature, they're not likely to increase it as an increase in tax is likely to deter players playing for clubs here and earning the salaries that contribute to a better government financially basically.
Original post by Swayum
Seriously, some of them earn like, what, 100k a WEEK? Why not just tax the hell out of them? Most of them don't deserve it at all if you look at the way they play (I mean come on, they've been playing all their lives and yet a lot of their shots go way off target most of the times - some of it is SHOCKING).
Not just footballers, but other sportsmen to a lesser extent.
Yes, I know they are taxed, but I'm suggesting a massive tax.
*Edit*
FFS, people keep banging on about moving to other countries. I AM PROPOSING THAT EVERY COUNTRY DOES THIS. Or, if you'd prefer, imagine that we have just one country. Or, if you'd prefer, imagine a closed economy. Or, if you'd prefer, imagine a world tax.
*Edit 2*
Since some people are asking about numbers, I think it's fair to impose an 80% tax on footballers earning 100k/week. Even then, they're earning 20k a WEEK. That's more than a lot of people earn in a year still. I definitely support an 80% tax on footballers who still make 20k a week more than I do raising the fees.
If you can't live off of 20k a week, you have issues.
Not just footballers, but other sportsmen to a lesser extent.
Yes, I know they are taxed, but I'm suggesting a massive tax.
*Edit*
FFS, people keep banging on about moving to other countries. I AM PROPOSING THAT EVERY COUNTRY DOES THIS. Or, if you'd prefer, imagine that we have just one country. Or, if you'd prefer, imagine a closed economy. Or, if you'd prefer, imagine a world tax.
*Edit 2*
Since some people are asking about numbers, I think it's fair to impose an 80% tax on footballers earning 100k/week. Even then, they're earning 20k a WEEK. That's more than a lot of people earn in a year still. I definitely support an 80% tax on footballers who still make 20k a week more than I do raising the fees.
If you can't live off of 20k a week, you have issues.
But not all countries would impose this. If their economy is doing fine, why would they? There's no way in a million years that every country would bother taxing footballers 80 percent; all it would lead to are endless strikes and arguments, and I quite like watching Messi et al. on a Saturday evening.
The other day my other halfs brother was telling me how in German proffessional football they have a wage cap and it works quite well there, I don't see why we shouldn't have a wage cap for players in this country, as well a cap on how much a club should spend.
I think some of the wages are very OTT.
I think some of the wages are very OTT.
Original post by Roo Bix
When I saw the thread title, obviously, it's just un-ethical to tax footballers more. But when you think about how much the taxpayer is taxed, that is un-ethical.
When thinking about this, it's interesting:
Take a team like Tottenham Hotspur for example. They have 27 registered players in their first team squad, with each player earning (give or take) £7,000,000. That's a player net salary of £189,000,000.
This is just one club. There are 44 teams in the Premier League. Of course, each team earns different and has different salaries for each player. But let's take the example and multiply it by 44:
£8,316,000,000.
Let's just say, 10% of that could help bring the country out of deficit.
It just makes you think about teams in other leagues, in other countries. World Poverty eradicated, anyone?
When thinking about this, it's interesting:
Take a team like Tottenham Hotspur for example. They have 27 registered players in their first team squad, with each player earning (give or take) £7,000,000. That's a player net salary of £189,000,000.
This is just one club. There are 44 teams in the Premier League. Of course, each team earns different and has different salaries for each player. But let's take the example and multiply it by 44:
£8,316,000,000.
Let's just say, 10% of that could help bring the country out of deficit.
It just makes you think about teams in other leagues, in other countries. World Poverty eradicated, anyone?
Erm....WOW. Just wow. Here are some facts about football:
1. The Premier League has 20 TEAMS. That reduces your "estimate" by over half.
2. No team could really afford £189,000,000 in wages. Maybe Man City.
3. Most players DO NOT earn £7 million a year. Literally under 1% of professional players in the world earn that amount. The following eight players earn more than seven million pounds a year.
Futebol Finance's 50 highest paid players in world football
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, £11.3million)
2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona, £10.4million)
3 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, £9.1million)
4 Samuel Eto'o (Internazionale, £9.1million)
5 Kaka (Real Madrid, £8.7million)
6 Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, £7.4million)
7 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, £7.4million)
8 Carlos Tevez (Manchester City, £7million)
Of these, only two play in England. So maybe you should read up on football before making a wholly incorrect post.
For the record, the overall wage bill is £1.3 billion-seven billion less than your "estimate."
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