Footballers in Turkey's top tier pay only 15% income tax, compared to 50% in England, 45% in Germany and 30% in Holland tinyurl.com/aomcyqk—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) January 21, 2013
Hamit #Altıntop, who paid nearly €4m per annum in tax when at #RealMadridCF, contributes just €0.525m at #GalatasaraySK tinyurl.com/aomcyqk—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) January 21, 2013
I believe Turkey has a high minimum wage (compared to Balkan and E.European countries) and good employee protection, but lots of tax exemption opportunities. That’s led to a high level of ‘informal work’, which is not necessarily a good thing. As Turkey transitions to becoming a richer more developed state perhaps low taxes are needed to simply more money into the pockets of people, though that’s not good in the long term. As for footballing, I think that has its own ethics which is not rational.
Turkey does indeed have a far superior employment environment + regulations compared to its neighbours. Its tax system has been rationalised in recent years, but the informal economy is still massive (though slowly being reduced in size and scope). That said, the cost of living in Turkey is high compared to the rest of the Balkans.