VOL. 51 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2014 P41
MARQUEZ TAX DISPUTE
T
urning 22 in February,
Marc Marquez is finally
leaving his family home
next month. This normal
enough decision has trig-
gered a social media storm
in Spain. For the double
MotoGP Champion is mov-
ing to neighboring tax ha-
ven Andorra.
With earnings now
thought to top 10-million
Euros a year from Repsol
Honda alone, and some-
thing similar from sundry
sponsors and marketing
deals, the reaction con-
cerns the loss of taxes to
the beleaguered Spanish econ-
omy.
But the rider insists the move
has more to do with escaping
the burden of fame than avoid-
ing taxes, and hinted that he was
committed to pay full Spanish
taxes for the next two years, and
perhaps for longer.
"All the time it is becoming
more difficult for me," he told a
Spanish TV interviewer. "I under-
stand when fans stop me in the
street—but when they come to
my home, ring the bell and wait
for me on the doorstep."
Twitterati dubbed him "a trai-
tor" and urged his sponsors to
withdraw their backing. But "tax-
es were not my motivation," he
said. "I don't know what will hap-
pen in the future, but I will pay
next year, and keep paying my
taxes," he said.
A rider's earning power, he
added, was hostage to fortune.
"You never know when your ca-
reer will end," he said, referring
to the eye problem and double vi-
sion at the end of 2011 that came
close to finishing it for him.
The criticism of fans was, said
Marquez, "the hardest of my life."
Close to tears, he thanked his
family for their support.
The landlocked Principality
of Andorra, straddling the Pyr-
enees mountain range dividing
Spain from France, is less than
75 miles from his family home in
Cervera. It is a popular destina-
tion for high-earning sportsmen.
Both Espargaro brothers moved
there, while Pedrosa and Loren-
zo are domiciled in Switzerland,
which was also the choice of
Casey Stoner.
To avoid Spanish tax of around
50 percent of his earnings, Mar-
quez would have to spend half
the year in Andorra to meet resi-
dence requirements, where (af-
ter an entrance fee of 50,000
Euros) taxes will be closer to just
10 percent.
Valentino Rossi has been
through a different kind of taxa-
tion hell, after his supposed resi-
dence outside Italy was ques-
tioned by revenuers in 2007:
settled out of court with an undis-
closed but substantial payment.
New Formula 1 Champion
Lewis Hamilton, a resident of Mo-
naco, has faced a similar storm
in Britain in recent weeks, while
Spanish F1 Champion Fernando
Alonso returned to Spain from
Switzerland as a tax resident in
2011.
Michael Scott
MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez
finds out that it's not cheap being
a superstar.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
