All franchises who have accounts in Pakistan will have to pay 10% income tax along with a 16% goods and services tax to the Punjab government due to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters being in Lahore; inflating expenses further for these new clubs.
The five teams have not gone on the cheap, with Karachi being sold for $2.6 million per year on a 10-year contract, with Lahore Qalandar being second on the list at $2.1 million per annum.
With around $9 million being invested in the five teams combined, the franchises have decided to approach the PSL officials collectively; with a whopping $2.34 million set to be collected as tax from their bids alone.
While a loophole allows the franchise owners to receive exemption from these taxes if they register a company in the UAE, the respective companies have asked the PSL governing council and the PCB to take up the issue on their behalf and see if any exemption can be received.
The PCB approached the government to plead for a five-year tax exemption, arguing that the PSL should be allowed to get established first. However, the proposal was rejected.
“PSL officials contacted Finance Minister Ishaq Dar regarding an exemption for the first five years due to the project being in its infancy but the proposal was turned down,” a PSL official said. “We hope they revisit the decision because it could have serious consequences on the PSL.”
Icon players revealed
Pakistan all-rounders Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik, along with West Indies opener Chris Gayle, England middle-order batsman Kevin Pietersen and Australian all-rounder Shane Watson have been selected as the five icon players.
The teams will buy one icon player each, who will be fetching $200,000.
The five icons will be followed by 25 players in the Platinum category, who will be receiving $140,000.
The other categories are Diamond ($70,000), Gold ($50,000), Silver ($25,000) and Emerging ($10,000).
The players who are not selected in their current categories will be demoted a step down, so any Platinum player left will automatically become a Diamond player and will then cost $70,000.
Teams to incur at least $2m each in expenses
Apart from paying for the franchise rights per year, each franchise would have to spend an estimated sum between $2 million and $2.5 million on expenses such as salaries, travel and accommodation.
According to the details given out by PSL officials to the franchises in a workshop on Monday, a team cannot spend less than $985,000 on the players, while the maximum they can go is $1.1 million.
Total staff salary cap had already been announced as $1.75 million.
Accommodation and travel expenses will amount to around an estimated $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.
Read : PSL franchises sold at $93 million for a period of 1 decade
