Love football… Crazy about FIFA World Cup… Do you know that the Brazilians pay price of tax breaks for FIFA World Cup Sponsors?
You must know that FIFA, football’s governing body, imposes preconditions on the host countries to allow tax exemptions for FIFA, its subsidiaries and sponsors. This time, FIFA, has imposed condition on Brazil as a host country of the World Cup, to grant huge tax breaks to the World Cup Sponsors. As per the campaign by InspirAction, Christian Aid’s Spanish organisation, it is expected that Brazil will lose up to £312 million in the form of foregone tax revenue on account of tax reliefs being granted to FIFA and the World Cup sponsors. Even the most conservative estimates suggest the loss to be around £145 million.
It is said that FIFA wants to create their own tax haven. A fully exempt situation. That is, FIFA and its FIFA subsidiaries that are fully exempt from any tax whatsoever levied at every level – state level, municipal level. All sorts of taxes: consumption taxes, income taxes – you name it – it’s all exempt. This is completely obscene and FIFA must stop such insistence of tax breaks from host countries.
“The price of these tax breaks for corporate giants will be paid by people living in poverty in Brazil and that is obscene,” said InspirAction. It is further added that “‘Brazil is already one of the most unequal countries in the world. The millions that FIFA demands for its sponsors should be used for the benefit of Brazil’s many poor communities, not to enrich the already powerful.”
The World Cup sponsors are very big multinational companies and by advertisements reaching almost throughout the whole world, they mint money like anything and what do they pay for earning super profits to the host countries by way of tax to help poorest of the poor people leaving in such countries? Almost nil. The result is the poorest people are those who suffer the most.
InspirAction has launched a petition calling on FIFA President Sep Blatter to ‘give tax breaks for the World Cup sponsors the red card – and never impose these rules on World Cup host countries in the future.’
This is money that should be used to help Brazil’s millions of poor families, for instance with better schools, hospitals and public transport, financial support for all communities affected by infrastructure projects and also through a fairer tax system.
Source: Tax Justice Network and InspirAction
Image source: InspirAction
