In further clamp downs by the Inland Revenue, David Beckham and other high earning football players are being targeted in the wake of recent news regarding the re-negotiation of David Beckhams contract with football giants Manchester United.
Similiar to IT contractors, footballers aim to split their income from the club. The first part being paid in the form of a salary, and thus subject to full tax, the other parts to be paid to a personal company in the form of 'image rights' and mechandising. They then use the dividends route to avoid full NI payments.
So, it seems us IT contractors lead, and the Beckhams follow, albeit, they are a little better at football than us, but I bet they can't write any HTML...!