I dont think even Bolt will change the Tax!

[lilelvis2000]

Considering the very short careers of athletes this really is crap isn't it?

[Mich the Tester]

That is an interesting point. So, who fancies approaching all these foreign sports stars and acting as "no win, no fee" challenge against the government!?

Andre Agassi tried it in 2006 and lost. Really, for any top athlete it's much easier to just avoid Britain, with the exception of the Olympics. The government are waiving the rule for the 2011 uefa cup final, so might still waive it for the Olympics.

Really stupid piece of legislation. An athlete like Bolt works through agents in the countries where he runs; the agents' companies pay tax on the revenues and fees, so HM government would be minting it if he turns up, even without him paying any tax personally. With this construction, he just won't turn up, so revenues will be down.

[centurian]

The government are waiving the rule for the 2011 uefa cup final, so might still waive it for the Olympics.

Given that the Olympics is on an "amateur" basis (i.e. no payments), so doesn't form part of his "occupation", it would be harder to justify including it - not that that has ever stopped HMRC though.

I would have thought that it would be a condition of bidding for the Olympics means you agree not to tax the competitors.

[Mich the Tester]

Given that the Olympics is on an "amateur" basis (i.e. no payments), so doesn't form part of his "occupation", it would be harder to justify including it - not that that has ever stopped HMRC though.

I would have thought that it would be a condition of bidding for the Olympics means you agree not to tax the competitors.

I think they're trying to get a percentage of all the earnings; their position is that while he's in the UK his earnings from endorsements, adverts etc continue and will be taxed.

Thing is, in the past they'd have done this by time, i.e. spend one day in the UK and you pay on 1/365 of your total income. But now they've changed it to number of competitive events, so if he runs 10 meets per year, he'll pay tax on 1/10 of his income.

[lilelvis2000]

Can't really blame Labour anymore now. Or can we?

[TheFaQQer]

This is plainly ridiculous. Imagine applying to contractors. You do a 9 monther in Germany and a 1 monther in England. We want to tax half your earnings!

Stupidly thought out.

That's not what the legislation says.

The legislation is that you are taxed on the amount of money you earn while you are in the UK. Simples.