With the promotion for the first time in its history to professional football, Andorra enters a new sports scenario that will have its consequences in the management of the Principality club, which is owned by Gerard Piqué. It is well known that the tax regime and social security costs in Andorra is much lighter than the Spanish one, which causes a panorama never seen before in football and in which LaLiga has wanted to put order immediately, although there are still more than two months to go before the start of the next season.
Andorra’s tax advantages represent a comparative offense for the rest of the Second Division clubs that next season will play in the silver category together with the team owned by Piqué.
For this reason, LaLiga has decided to update its ‘rules of the game’ with the aim that the Principality club’s wage bill is accounted for with the same rules as those of other teams. In this way, the notable tax differences between Spain and Andorra will not cause an imbalance in the competition, which is the goal that the employers have sought so that everyone competes under the same economic conditions.
Thus, in the case of clubs with tax residence in Andorra, the amount to be computed as the cost of the sports squad will be conditioned by the remuneration model. If the footballer or coach is a tax resident in Andora and their remuneration has been agreed in gross, LaLiga specifies that “the corresponding net remuneration for the player or coach will be calculated according to the Andorran tax and social security regime, to subsequently estimate the gross cost for the club that would correspond to said net remuneration raised to the gross according to the Spanish tax and social security regime, applying for this the average of the rates in force in the autonomous communities.
In this way, the members of Andorra who have their residence established in the Principality will be able to continue to benefit from paying only 10% of personal income tax if their gross salary is greater than 300,000 euros, and not 47% as occurs in Spanish taxation, but LaLiga will compute these salaries in accordance with Spanish tax laws so that there are no differences in the cost of the sports squad.
Regarding the remuneration agreed in net, the gross cost for the club that would correspond to said net remuneration raised to the gross according to the Spanish tax and social security system will be estimated, applying for this the average of the rates in force in the autonomous communities. In both cases, “for the purposes of calculating the average of the current rates 52, the rates applicable in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla will not be taken into account.”
In the cases of players or coaches considered non-tax residents in Andorra, the computable cost will be calculated in accordance with the usual general rules, so there is nothing new there.