World Cup heroes face heavy penalty
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 23, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The Turkish national team hit a high with its third place finish in the World Cup in 2002, but that squad now faces a heavy tax fine.
Twenty-six members of the Turkish national team face a total 22.9 million Turkish lira penalty for not paying the tax on their bonuses, the daily Hürriyet reported yesterday. In 2002, the Turkish players beat co-host South Korea 3-2 in the bronze-medal playoff in the World Cup, earning a bonus of 368,000 liras apiece. The daily reported that the Turkish Football Federation did not pay taxes for the 9 million Swiss francs in bonuses given by FIFA, stating that the world football’s governing body was already taxed.
However, Beşiktaş Tax Office said that according to Turkish revenue law, bonuses should have been taxed in Turkey again. The Federation has been in talks with the tax office for the last seven years, but failed in its bid to overturn the decision. The Federation then challenged the penalty, but the court decided that a total of 22.9 million liras should be paid.
Şükrü Kızılot, an economics columnist at Hürriyet, wrote that the responsibility fell to the Football Federation and he did not expect the players would have to pay the penalty. But he wrote: "The Federation should ask the footballers to pay the tax, not the penalty," which is about 20 percent of the whole amount.
"A small part of the [damage caused by] the federation’s neglect can be demised to the players," wrote Kızılot, "while the majority will be charged to the federation."
Team captain Bülent Korkmaz said that players were not informed about the process during the last seven years, but he is confident that players will not be charged. "I am surprised," Korkmaz said. "I thought that bonuses were already taxed, but I don’t believe that the fine will be reflected on us."
However, Beşiktaş Tax Office said that according to Turkish revenue law, bonuses should have been taxed in Turkey again. The Federation has been in talks with the tax office for the last seven years, but failed in its bid to overturn the decision. The Federation then challenged the penalty, but the court decided that a total of 22.9 million liras should be paid.
Şükrü Kızılot, an economics columnist at Hürriyet, wrote that the responsibility fell to the Football Federation and he did not expect the players would have to pay the penalty. But he wrote: "The Federation should ask the footballers to pay the tax, not the penalty," which is about 20 percent of the whole amount.
"A small part of the [damage caused by] the federation’s neglect can be demised to the players," wrote Kızılot, "while the majority will be charged to the federation."
Team captain Bülent Korkmaz said that players were not informed about the process during the last seven years, but he is confident that players will not be charged. "I am surprised," Korkmaz said. "I thought that bonuses were already taxed, but I don’t believe that the fine will be reflected on us."