Greece's professional basketball players now must pay their own taxes

There's a new victim of the Greek financial meltdown: National Basketball Association players who moved to the Mediterranean country to play basketball.

Greek basketball clubs used to pay for such things as players’ housing costs and even their taxes. No more.

In the wake of the financial crisis, Greek teams have been reducing salaries by as much as 70 percent, letting players go and cutting perks, reports Bloomberg News (via the New York Times).

One of the perks that's been dropped is the payment by sports clubs of players' income taxes since the country hiked athletes' taxes.

On Jan. 1, Greece's tax rate for athletes earning more than 100,000 euros (about $126,000) went from 21 percent to 45 percent.

The tax increase was part of Greece's effort to narrow its budget gap, which last year reached 13.6 percent of gross domestic product, more than four times the European Union limit.

The Greek professional basketball season starts in October. I'm not a hoops fan, but it will be interesting to see if the league's quality of play will be affected this year.

Some NBA players looking for a new place to play might pass on Greek teams now that, like the rest of us, the hoopsters will have to pay their own expenses and taxes.

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Comments

[Basketball Stand]

I love seeing players coming from a country that doesn't tend to produce pro players, gives the rest of us hope.

[Zack Nutter]

no big deal we all have to pay our own taxes.