Samir Nasri, the retired footballer, is facing a €5.51 million tax claim after inspectors declared France to be his country of residence, partly because of his Deliveroo orders.
Nasri, 38, formerly of Manchester City and Arsenal, says he lives in Dubai, where there is no income tax, but French officials say his main residence is in France, where there is a 45 per cent tax rate for earnings of more than €181,917 a year, and an additional “exceptional contribution” of 3 per cent above €250,000 and 4 per cent over €500,000.
In court documents, officials disputed Nasri’s claim to be resident in Dubai, citing the 212 Deliveroo orders he had made in Paris in 2022. They also said flight records showed that between 2021 and 2023, he had spent between 126 and 208 days a year in France, and between 42 and 124 days a year in the United Arab Emirates.
Samir Nasri attends the French Open 2022 at Roland Garros Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images
The documents further said that he had shares in French businesses and had signed a contract with Canal+, the pay-television channel, to work as a pundit on between 40 and 45 shows during the 2021-22 football season.
Inspectors are claiming €5.25 million in back taxes for 2020 to 2022 and a further €82,000 in property tax from 2019 to 2025.
Last month, the Paris criminal court gave tax officials authorisation to seize Nasri’s accounts at the exclusive Edmond de Rothschild bank and to obtain a judicial mortgage on one of his three Parisian properties. The act gives the tax office the right to seize and sell the property if Nasri fails to pay what he owes.
The footballer’s lawyers said he contested the claim and would appeal. Nasri told Les Echos, the financial daily, that he paid his taxes in Britain before moving to Dubai.
At Manchester City Nasri earned £180,000 a week and made 175 appearances Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Fiscal lawyers contacted by Les Echos said the decision to seize Nasri’s bank accounts and threaten to do likewise with his property was “exceptional” at this stage in the legal process.
They said the tax office had not only to prove that Nasri lived in France, but also that his revenue was generated in the country. They cautioned that the match between Nasri and the tax office was far from over.