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Summer 2004 Newsletter

You Cannot be Serious!

The Inland Revenue have special rules to take tax from the earnings of foreign resident entertainers and sportspeople. The normal rule is that an event promoter has to take tax off before paying the performer, and hand that tax over to the Revenue - otherwise it would be hard to make sure that someone international and mobile actually paid tax. But the foreigner can avoid the deduction at source by agreeing to file tax returns and promising to pay up.

Andre Agassi did this, and happily filed his tax return, believing that he would pay tax on his earnings from playing at Wimbledon - but the Revenue said they also wanted some of the money Nike pay him for wearing their shirts. After all, he wears their shirts at Wimbledon, so the money was earned while he was in the UK. The argument is about the nit-picking details of the tax law, but the line judge - sorry, High Court judge - said that the Revenue had served an ace, and Agassi  would have to pay more tax than he had expected.

This may be a deep plot to put all the foreign tennis players off entering Wimbledon, so Tim Henman will one day have a better chance...