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Ex-France international Makélélé faces tax probe

French tax authorities have asked their Swiss counterparts to start a probe into former France international footballer Claude Makélélé, who played for English club Chelsea and Spain's Real Madrid among others.

Ex-France international Makélélé faces tax probe
Ex-France international Claude Makélélé, once of Chelsea and Real Madrid faces a tax probe in Switzerland. Photo: Bertrand Langlois/AFP

Former France international footballer Claude Makélélé is facing a tax probe at home and in Switzerland, a filing showed Tuesday, as reports suggested it could relate to his investments in a Geneva football team.

The Swiss government's weekly list of official administrative announcements showed that the federal tax administration had received a request for assistance from France.

The document did not specify whether Makélélé, who used to play for British team Chelsea, had done anything wrong.   

Such requests can be made under a longstanding accord between Switzerland and France that fights tax fraud and ensures individuals do not pay tax on the same money to both countries.
   
Makélélé had the option of opposing the request, the document said.

Swiss authorities have given him ten days to appoint a representative in Switzerland to handle his case.
   
Swiss news agency ATS suggested that the probe could be related to Makélélé's 2004 investment in Geneva side Servette FC, which was run by his former agent Marc Roger.

At the time, Roger said that Makélélé had bought a stake of between five and ten percent of Servette.

Servette fans still bristle at the memory of the Roger era, which saw the century-old club go bankrupt and get relegated to the third division.
   
Roger received a two-year suspended prison sentence for mismanagement and forgery.
   
With new owners, Servette managed to climb back to the Swiss top flight by 2011, but were relegated to the second division last season — due to their on-pitch performance rather than financial problems.
   
Makélélé, now 41, won titles in three countries with Chelsea, Real Madrid and French club Nantes, as well as the Champions League with Real.   

With 71 France caps, including the 2006 World Cup final, he is now deputy manager to former France international Laurent Blanc at Paris Saint-Germain.

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Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark’s employment allowance?

Denmark's government may soon announce changes to its tax reform plans, which will give all wage earners a bigger employment allowance. What is this and how will it affect foreigners' earnings?

Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark's employment allowance?

What is the employment allowance? 

The Beskæftigelsesfradraget (from beskæftigelse, meaning employment, and fradrag, meaning rebate) was brought in by the centre-right Liberal Party back in 2004, the idea being that it would incentivise people to get off welfare and into a job.

Everyone whose employer pays Denmark’s 8 percent AM-bidrag, or arbejdsmarkedsbidrag, automatically receives beskæftigelsesfradraget. Unlike with some of Denmark’s tax rebates, there is no need to apply. The Danish Tax Agency simply exempts the first portion of your earnings from income taxes. 

In 2022, beskæftigelsesfradraget was set at 10.65 percent of income with a maximum rebate of 44,800 kroner. 

How did the government agree to change the employment allowance in its coalition deal? 

In Responsibility for Denmark, the coalition agreement between the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the Moderate Party, the new government said it would set aside 5 billion kroner for tax reforms.

Of this, 4 billion kroner was earmarked for increasing the employment allowance, with a further 0.3 billion going towards increasing an additional employment allowance for single parents.

According to the public broadcaster DR, the expectation was that this would increase the standard employment  allowance to 12.75 percent up to a maximum rebate of 53,600 kroner. 

How might this be further increased, according to Børsen? 

According to a report in the Børsen newspaper, the government now plans to set aside a further 1.75 billion kroner for tax reforms, of which nearly half — about 800 million kroner — will go towards a further increase to the employment allowance. 

The Danish Chamber of Commerce earlier this month released an analysis in which it argued that by raising removing all limits on the rebate for single parents and raising the maximum rebate for everone else by 20,300 kroner, the government could increase the labour supply by 4,850 people, more than double the 1,500 envisaged in the government agreement. 

According to the Børsen, the government estimates that its new extended allowance will increase the labour supply by 5,150 people.  

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