Pressure in Spain to end tax benefits for foreign players

Leftist lawmakers in Spain, shocked by the 93 million euros paid by Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo, are moving to withdraw the so-called “Beckham law” under which foreign footballers receive tax benefits.

The lower house of parliament was on Tuesday to take up a joint proposal from lawmakers in the ruling Socialist Party and from small leftist parties to formally ask the government to discard the law.

The law, first conceived to aid foreign business investment, allows foreign footballers playing in Spain to be taxed on only 24 percent of their income, instead of 43 percent for other Spaniards in the same income bracket.

It is popularly know as the “Beckham law”, after English footballing icon David Beckham, who was the first to benefit after his arrival at Real Madrid in 2003.

Moves to withdraw the law were sparked by the news of the world record transfer fee paid by Real to Manchester United for Portuguese striker Ronaldo earlier this month, and the player’s reported annual salary of 12 million euros.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero described the amounts as “excessive.”

However, the measure is not certain to pass the lower house of parliament, where the Socialist Party does not have an absolute majority.