“An obscene tax gift”: the Senate votes to eliminate the tax advantage for Fifa

2023-11-25 16:43:36

Almost all elected officials at the Luxembourg Palace said no. Senators approved almost unanimously on Saturday the deletion in the 2024 budget of an article establishing advantageous tax measures in favor of “international sports federations”, first and foremost Fifa.

According to parliamentary sources, the few RDPI senators (presidential majority) present abstained or did not participate in the vote, carried out by show of hands. The government, for its part, supported the article in question and should logically reinstate it when the budget (PLF) returns to the Assembly and will probably be adopted via the constitutional weapon of 49.3.

Employees exempt from income tax for five years

The system offers exemption from corporate tax, business property tax and business value added contribution. It also provides for an income tax exemption for employees of these federations domiciled in France for five years after their “first taking office”.

Senators from almost all benches took turns denouncing a “disproportionate, incomprehensible, scandalous and, to put it bluntly, obscene” tax gift (Francis Szpiner, LR), a “scandalous and unfair” system (Éric Jeansannetas, PS), an advantage “indecent” particularly with regard to the amateur sports movement (Pascal Savoldelli, PCF).

The Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave defended a tax provision which “is part of a global strategy” to make France a “sporting nation”. He stressed that this advantage would not concern the “lucrative” activities of Fifa or another federation, citing television rights, sponsorship, brands, derivative products.

According to Les Echos, informal discussions took place between Emmanuel Macron and Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, to move the body’s headquarters from Zurich to Paris. Which would constitute for the leaders of world football a return to their roots, after being born in the French capital in 1904 before leaving for Switzerland, and a way of turning the page on financial scandals.