Test stars face £1m tax bill

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

The move by the Inland Revenue could cost the team, currently being led against the West Indies by Andrew Strauss, up to £50,000 per player.

Scroll down to read more:

The England and Wales Cricket Board are in discussions with the taxman over the tickets they give to the players for their family and friends to use. The men from the Revenue are pressing for them to be viewed as benefits in kind' and so liable to tax at 40 per cent.

The Inland Revenue are understood to be demanding payment backdated over several years, and the total sum involved could reach seven figures.

Players selected for England — including the likes of Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan, all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and spin star Monty Panesar — as well as back-room staff have all enjoyed an entitlement to four tickets for the first four days of a Test, plus four tickets for each one-day internationals.

Hospitality packages, including free lunch and tea, are included, giving the players' perk a commercial value of around £600 a day.

With seven Tests per home season and ten one-day internationals, a player picked for all England's home matches could receive 38 days' worth of tickets and hospitality packages at a total value of £22,800. That could make them liable to pay £9,120 in tax.

As yet, it is unclear from which year the revenue are seeking to back-date their demands for payment. But five years in the England side could theoretically cost an ever-present player — or coach, such as Peter Moores's predecessor Duncan Fletcher — more than £50,000.

The players have been angered and bewildered by the demand, which, ironically, they received in a letter along with their allocation of tickets for the first Test at Lord's.

They have asked the Professional Cricketers' Association to take up the matter with the board and the taxman. Graveneywants to be the boss