Super League Hit By Tax Revamp

Clubs from rugby league’s Super League have been hit by a new financial concern after the Inland Revenue clamped down on the tax loophole under which leading players have been paid a large proportion of their salaries in image rights.

The offshore payments, which date back to 2005 and have mainly gone to overseas players who collect them on their way home, have held significant tax advantages for the players and effectively exempted clubs from paying National Insurance on anything up to 40% of some salaries.

However now clubs are braced for a major change in those arrangements which will seriously reduce their ability to attract leading Australian players and there are suggestions that they may be forced to make retrospective payments which in a couple of cases could run well into six figures.

At least 10 of the 14 Super League clubs are thought to be affected including all the major sides such as Leeds, St Helens and Warrington, whose chief executive, Andy Gatcliffe, revealed that his club are already in discussions with both the Revenue and the Rugby Football League.

‘We at Warrington Wolves took quite a lead on this, and we have been looking at the situation with the players, legal advisers and the tax people to find out how best to handle it,’ said Gatcliffe.

‘Several of the clubs including ourselves do have image rights agreements with players, and the Rugby Football League have been asked to co-ordinate on our behalf, just as the Rugby Football Union has been doing on behalf of their Premiership clubs.

‘They are now working to come up with a solution that is Revenue approved. It’s not very nice to have to do, but at least then we’ll know where we stand for the future.’

An RFL spokesman denied that any clubs had yet been hit with six-figure bills but confirmed that the governing body have been asked to hold talks with the tax authorities on the clubs’ behalf.