“I lose money if I play in the United Kingdom,” Rafael Nadal said in 2011 when he stopped participating in Queen’s to play Halle. This statement may surprise, given the succulent metallic prize that usually offers tournaments such as this 500 category, but the British hacienda hides a clause for which athletes, including tennis players, have to pay taxes in the country not only for what they generate in it, but also for the sponsorships that the players have out.
According to the London accounting firm “Moore Kingston Smith”, those not resident in the United Kingdom “will have to pay taxes for any payment related to their activity in the United Kingdom”, such as the prize for playing in Queen’s and Wimbledon, but “also a proportion of their earnings for global activities and that will be based on the time they have passed in the United Kingdom” have brands.
This explains that the three best tennis players in history and, therefore, the ones who generated the most money, have dropped rather the Queen’s clues, although these are the ones that most resemble those of Wimbledon and, therefore, the ones that offer best preparation for the third Grand Slam of the season.
Roger Federer only played the tournament once, in 1999, and then signed a life agreement with Halle, Novak Djokovic played it in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2018, but in the last seven years he has not returned, while Nadal, champion in 2008, did not return after 2015.
“The reality is that in the United Kingdom they have a very broad tax regime. It is not just the money to play, that is not the problem,” said the Balearic in 2011 to explain his absence in Queen’s. “Hacienda takes money from my sponsors, from Babolat, Nike and my watches (Richard Mille). That is very hard. If I play in the United Kingdom, I lose money. I did it a lot in recent years, but it is increasingly difficult to play here. It is too much.”
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For a most important tennis player in the world, who has a broad sponsors of sponsors that go from racket clothing, watches, banks, cars, telecommunications, etc., paying a percentage of all those income can lead to a problem. Especially since British legislation takes into account when taxing athletes not only the days playing parties, but also the time they spend training, attending to the media and in sponsors’ events.
Before a reform in 2012, the law was even tougher and the British hacienda took into account when taxing the athlete every day that would happen in the United Kingdom, without taking into account that it trained or not.
This issue gains relevance in recent days, when the percentage of money that Alcaraz will contribute for proclaiming Roland Garros champion has been highlighted. Several media reported that the Murcia will have to pay 46% to the Spanish Treasury of the 2.5 million that was pocketed in Paris, but, nevertheless, this is not entirely true, as his partner quickly stopped at the Holger Rune circuit.
The Danish clarified that tennis players pay taxes in the country where tournaments play, but that they have the right to deduce expenses, such as the hiring of coaches, fisios, doctors, accommodation, transport, etc.
The United Kingdom, curiously, is granted exceptions for certain events, as was the case with the Champions League final last year between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, in which none of those involved had to pay taxes in British land, but not one of the most important events of the sports calendar such as Wimbledon.
This tax regime not only frightens Tenistas and in 2010 Usain Bolt declined to run in London because his agent told him that he would lose more money than he would earn. To avoid a problem at the Olympic Games that were held in the British capital in 2012, the British Government gave tax exemptions to the participants in the Games, as well as workers, foreign journalists and representatives of the International Olympic Committee, among other positions.
With EFE information
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