GOLF TAX - This must be a concern

European Tour officials are in talks with the British government to change tax rules which could deter leading golfers from playing in the Ryder Cup in October.

“These tax rules are discouraging leading sportsmen and sportswomen from competition in Britain,” Mitchell Platts, the tour’s director of public relations corporate affairs, said Tuesday.

“Our aim is to attract the best players to provide the best entertainment for our audiences in the U.K. This tax rule is seriously hampering our efforts,” Platts said. “Discussions continue to take place with the HMRC and these discussions include the Ryder Cup.”

The Ryder Cup could yet be made exempt from the new rules, as the Olympic Games are. Next year’s Champions League final at Wembley was also accorded similar status in March but only after the stadium had lost out on a bid to host last season’s final because of tax issues.

Agassi was ordered in 2006 to pay tax on a portion of cash paid to him by Nike and Head because he endorsed their products at Wimbledon and other events in Britain.

In the wake of that case, HMRC is now able to claim tax on a proportion of a sportsperson’s worldwide endorsements earnings. So if 50 percent of an athlete’s events are in Britain, 50 percent of their global endorsement earnings can be taxed.

Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association also expressed concern, saying the rules “`may act as a disincentive for world class—and emerging world class— sportsmen and women coming to compete here.”

“It is only right that where someone comes to work in the U.K. and receives an income, that tax is paid on that income, where it is due,” the agency said. “Only the money the sports star earns in the U.K. that is connected to their performances in the U.K. is taxed.”

Any views on this please...????

Similar to the Ryder Cup one

Tiger in Ryder Cup rejection 

Panic and scaremongering - see the other thread