All the ways ‘money obsessed’ David Beckham avoided paying tax for years

David Beckham has been accused of using a number of tactics to minimise paying UK tax in an explosive new book.

Investigative journalist Tom Bower has made a number of bombshell accusations against the footballer in his new book, The House of Beckham. He claims “money obsessed” Beckham routinely sought advice to legally minimise the amount of tax he paid and his schemes could have scuppered his chances of a knighthood. The football star and charity campaigner was snubbed once again in the latest honour’s list.

Charles’ snub comes as Beckham was unveiled as an ambassador to the King’s Foundation last month. Here, we’ve taken a look at all the ways Bower alleges Beckham has avoided paying tax.

Real Madrid move

Following Beckham’s impressive performance with Manchester United, he was signed to Real Madrid in 2003 on a four-year contract. In The House of Beckham, it’s said the footballer “effectively become a non-dom” upon his move to the Spanish team.

This meant Beckham was not paying British taxes on his income earned outside Britain. While playing for Real Madrid, Beckham earned around £16million a year.

Beckham also stopped paying National Insurance during this time. Bower said: “The genius of it was that no one in Britain realised that Beckham had become a tax exile. Instead the public believed that he was a global success who paid his taxes in Britain.”

The author claims this was partly due to sightings of Beckham in London. He could legally visit the UK for 90 days a year while maintaining his non-resident status.

High-profile career choices

Beckham also played for the Los Angeles Galaxy, before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 2013. According to The House of Beckham, the footballer’s high-profile career moves abroad were centred on what tax arrangements were in place.

Bower alleged Beckham would “reject the possibility of returning to the UK” to play for Chelsea and move to America instead. He said the footballer then chose to play a season in France before the financial year ended.

Ingenious film financing scheme

Beckham came under fire when he invested in the Ingenious film financing schemes in the hope of securing tax relief. Ingenious, which helped produce films including Avatar, qualified for tax breaks which were designed to support the UK film industry.

However, HMRC accused the company of claiming relief on artificial losses from its films.

‘Forgotten’ taxes

David Beckham and his wife Victoria Beckham are directors of Beckham Brand Holdings Ltd (BBH), a parent company to a number of associated companies and partnerships. In total, the sportsman was a director of at least 19 companies in Britain and more abroad.

Bower’s book claims huge sums of money were paid to auditors to oversee the books for these companies, including one payment of £437,000 for a year’s work for one company. However, some accounts were regularly filed months late at Companies House.

The House of Beckham also details one occasion when Beckham’s accountants for his Seven Global Holding Company Limited had “forgotten” about taxes worth $11.3million (£8.8million) being withheld by the German government in a dispute until flagged by Bower’s forensic accountant.

Beckham’s response

A spokeswoman for Beckham responded to Bower’s claims about Beckham avoiding tax while he played for Real Madrid. They told the author he was taxed fully on all his income earned in Spain and his income earned elsewhere in the relevant jurisdictions.

She then said the filing of late accounts was standard practice born of the inherent complexity of the arrangements. A source also disputed Bower’s claims saying the Beckhams “tax affairs are of course fully in order and have been duly filed, audited and approved by HMRC.”

THE HOUSE OF BECKHAM: MONEY, SEX AND POWER by Tom Bower, to be published by HarperCollins on 20th June 2024 at £22. Copyright © Tom Bower 2024.

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