Australian Football League players and other athletes won lucrative tax breaks for their "fame," which will be worth "tens of thousands of dollars a year to the biggest names," according to Michael Warner of the HERALD SUN. Every professional sportsperson "will be eligible to cash in on the image rights perk" delivered by the Australian Taxation Office. Athletes -- "including the highest-paid AFL players such as Lance Franklin and Nathan Fyfe," who earn about A$1M ($800,000) per year -- will be allowed to direct 10% of their playing income to a "private trust or company," where it will attract a tax rate of just 27.5%. This move "will hand them tax breaks" of about A$20,000 ($15,900) a year. The ATO "ruled the free kick is justified to compensate elite athletes" for "exploitation" of their "fame and image" to promote their sport. But the "controversial guideline, backdated to July 1, will ignite debate, given the heavy tax burden borne by average workers and the nation’s ballooning debt." The top-earning athletes "now pay a top marginal income tax rate" of 45%, plus a 2% Medicare levy. Some elite athletes "will be eligible to claim even more" than the 10% -- to be decided on a case-by-case basis. AFL Players’ Association exec Brett Murphy said, "This ruling recognizes the value of a player's image and ensures that they receive fair return for its commercial use" (HERALD SUN, 7/19).