As part of the R360 pitch, all players will be able to choose their country of residence and won’t be asked to reside in their franchise location.
That has opened the door to the potential for players to base themselves in tax-free countries. That would allow them to almost double their actual income.
Payne Haas’ agent has told R360 bosses that his client will not hold discussions with the organisation unless it is willing to meet a minimum fee of $3 million a season. In Australia, his pre-tax income would need to be close to $5.5 million to achieve the same earnings.
Solly is sceptical of the scheme.
“A few of us CEOs have been around rugby league for long enough to see these ‘tax-free’ schemes come and go before,” Solly said.
“Image Rights agreements in Guernsey and Jersey; registered offshore pension schemes and all sorts of schemes that players were promised if they moved to the UK or Europe. They never last and there is always a tax bill for the club or the player.
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“There is no way the ATO [Australian Tax Office] or HMRC [His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the UK] are going to allow players to run off and join a competition to earn millions of dollars for a few years, base themselves in a tax haven – then waltz back into Australia or the UK without paying tax. That is fantasy land.”
The ARL Commission will meet next week. V’landys declined to comment on Friday but has previously called R360 a “competition out of a Corn Flakes box”.
Rugby Australia and seven of the world’s leading rugby union nations issued a joint statement condemning R360 and warning players that participation would make them ineligible for international selection.
The statement – co-signed by the unions of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, England, Scotland, France and Italy – is the strongest pushback yet against the privately funded competition.
Argentina and Fiji are the only nations in the men’s top 10 Test rankings who have not signed the statement.
“Each of the national unions will be advising men’s and women’s players that participation in R360 would make them ineligible for international selection,” the statement said.
