I've come across an article in the Daily Telegraph reporting that the club is having to set aside a serious sum of money in case the Revenue comes knocking at The Library (Highbury).Arsenal have had to provide £11 million as possible future tax liability as a result of a recent House of Lords decision which affects how they pay some of their overseas players. Employee benefit trusts were set up and this trust paid some of the players' offshore, thus avoiding UK tax.
In 1979 Arsenal tried to pay David O'Leary through a Hambros Channel Island Trust Corporation on which O'Leary, an Irish citizen, claimed he did not have to pay tax. The courts ruled he had to and Hill Wood-said: "This is nothing like the arrangements we made with O'Leary. The payments to the players were made by the trust and it was perfectly legal. But this decision makes these schemes suspect."
(Contributor's emphasis)
Pete
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