Tiger Woods was left counting the cost on two fronts after missing the cut at Turnberry.The world No.1's huge ego took a battering as he was forced to take his first unwanted weekend off in 15 visits to The Open stretching back to 1995.
And as he boarded his private jet back to Florida he had good reason to curse Gordon Brown.
His Open prize-money of £3,200 for finishing joint 76th was dwarfed by a tax bill running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Woods is the highest profile victim of a little-known government stealth tax which robs British sports fans of the chance to see many of the world's top stars in action.
very time he visits the UK Woods is not only forced to pay 40 per cent tax on his winnings, but also gets landed with a huge bill for his off-course earnings.
Although all his estimated $80million-a-year endorsement income comes from the American's company, the taxman wants a slice of it.
Even if he had picked up his fourth Open Claret Jug today and the £750,000 winners cheque that goes with it, Woods would probably still have ended up out of pocket.
His tax bill stems from a landmark test case in the House of Lords five years ago where American tennis star Andre Agassi (right) lost his fight to avoid paying tax on his tennis racket sponsorships while playing at The Queen's Club tournament and Wimbledon.
The taxman now works on a formula that if a sportsman like Woods, as an example, plays in 25 tournaments a year worldwide and one of them is in the UK he should pay tax on a pro-rata basis on his sponsorship income.
To see Tiger Woods`s profile click here
-Nathan133
No comments:
Post a Comment