Top footballers including Wayne Rooney have thrown down the gauntlet to the taxman after putting their money into an investment plan that could save millions of pounds on their income tax bills. Premier League stars including the England striker and Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs have put cash into Waverton Property LLP – a partnership that has invested £145million in a project to convert a Birmingham warehouse into a data centre.  

The scheme’s promoters say the project carries a genuine commercial risk and is different from the controversial film tax schemes that saw celebrities write off their income tax bills while investing very small sums in the British film industry.  Last year Harcourt attracted a similarly glittering cast of investors for stakes in two data centres in the North-East which took advantage of Enterprise Zone tax breaks.

Source: This is Money