Top footballers have been warned to beware of clever wheezes aimed at getting round the new 50 per cent income tax rate, due to operate from April 6 2010, for those earning more than £150,000 per annum.

PKF Accountants & business advisers caution that grief from the taxman could heavily outweigh any money saved.

The level of UK tax has become a big issue in terms of attracting foreign stars to the Premiership.

In Spain the top rate of income tax is just 24 per cent.

Indeed the disparity has been highlighted in the case of Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin's move from Zenit St Petersburg on transfer deadline day in February.

Reports have claimed that, while he secured a big increase in his wages, once UK tax was taken into account he would have been better off staying where he was.

It has since been alleged that Arshavin, now aware of the full picture, has become 'unhappy' at the Emirates Stadium - one of the reasons being UK tax law - and is angling for a move to Barcelona.

For others caught in the same position the temptation may be to encourage their financial adviser to come up with some way of not having to pay the 50 per cent.

But Simon Littlejohns, tax partner at the Birmingham office of PKF, noted that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) looks very closely at such schemes in order to eliminate unfair or illegal 'tax leakage'.

He said: "The talk is that footballers are at the forefront of wanting to do something - they are not keen at all on paying 50 per cent tax.

"So they may well be up for it when presented with a supposed way round the problem.

"However, though complex schemes may look good on paper, people need to think through all the issues. It can and sometimes does end up in hassle, heartache and a hugely intrusive HMRC inquiry, and all for a relatively small amount of tax saved. Often, similar savings can be achieved through straightforward non-contentious ways of arranging your investments that cost far less to implement."

And, said Mr Littlejohns, the same is likely to be an issue for the so called 'City high-fliers' once better times, and the old bonus culture, return to the Square Mile and the financial centres of our major cities.

"They also may be looking to get round the new rate of tax, but I would strongly advise them to tread warily because the taxman will not sit idly by and let aggressive arrangements go unchallenged," he added.