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Sport hero Cannavaro probed over €1m fraud

UPDATED: Italy's World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro is being investigated on suspicion of running a sham company to avoid paying more than €1 million in tax, Italian authorities announced on Wednesday.

Sport hero Cannavaro probed over €1m fraud
Fabio Cannavaro led Italy to glory in Germany in 2006. Photo: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP

The former centreback, who led Italy to glory in Germany in 2006, has had property and other assets worth €900,000 confiscated in connection with an ongoing probe into a luxury boat rental business that Cannavaro, 41, ran with his wife.

In a statement, prosecutors in Cannavaro's home city of Naples, said they suspected that three multi-million-euro vessels supposedly available for rental through the company were in fact exclusively for the couple's private use.

As such, Cannavaro and his wife, Daniela Arenoso, 40, should have declared them as taxable assets and not been able to benefit from the various tax breaks for which only companies are eligible.

Tax inspectors have estimated that the operation of what was effectively a sham company, FD Service, enabled the couple to avoid more than €1 million in taxes and VAT between 2005 and 2010.

The prosecutors said that they had obtained evidence of Cannavaro's direct involvement in the fraud and of other, unspecified, illegal actions in relation to the company.

Also under investigation is Eugenio Tuccillo, described by prosecutors as an individual of limited means to whom Cannavaro sold the business shortly after the opening of the tax probe.

Almost immediately after taking over, Tuccillo put the company into administration in what inspectors suspect was an attempt to hide the fraud.

A national sport

In an illustrious playing career, Cannavaro played for Napoli, Parma, Internazionale, Juventus and Real Madrid before a final stint with Al-Ahli in Dubai, where he is currently assistant coach.

His movie-star looks, 136 caps and rise from the back streets of Naples to the summit of world football have made him a national icon in Italy, a country that prizes defenders like no other.

Famed for being as tough on the pitch as the teak on one of his boats, Cannavaro had, until now, also enjoyed a squeaky-clean image as a family man.

The latest revelations may not sully that reputation too much as tax dodging is often referred to as the second national sport in Italy. Numerous high-profile figures have been accused of cheating on their returns.

A government report published last month estimated that tax evasion currently costs the state €91 billion per year, equivalent to six percent of the country's annual output.

News of the allegations against Cannavaro emerged a day after the financial police announced they had broken up a ring of companies they believe used false accounting to defraud the state out of €1.7 billion.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has promised a crackdown on tax dodgers and has vowed to end the country's tradition of regular amnesties for offenders as part of broader package of reforms intended to make the country easier to govern, more business-friendly and stronger financially.

Well-known names who have been previously accused or convicted of illegal tax evasion include fashion designers Giorgio Armani, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.

Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is currently doing community service in a retirement home as his punishment after being convicted of tax fraud.

SEE ALSO: Italian police discover €1.7 bn corporate fraud

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TAXES

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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