As more and more of us slip into poverty as jobs and benefits are cut, spare a thought for Rafael Nadal - the snarly but dodgy-kneed ball-chaser is also rebelling against the government's policies.
Poor Rafael lamented yesterday:
"The tax regime from the UK is complicating a lot of things ... The problem is I can lose money if I go [to Queen's] to play for one week. It is really tough what is happening today in the UK with the tax"
Nadal earned just $27.5m in 2009 (Sports Illustrated). In tennis earnings alone this year he has made $6.3m according to tennis.com
Nadal takes issue with the UK tax law which means overseas athletes are taxed on their worldwide endorsement earnings for every day they spend in Britain. What this means is that if Nadal spends three weeks of every year in the UK, then he will be taxed that proportion (i.e. 21/365ths) of his global endorsements in the UK at 50%.
So if Nadal makes $20m in global advertising deals. He will be taxed 21/365ths of that at 50%, which would be $0.57m. By arguing against this tax, Nadal is pretending that playing in the UK does nothing to boost his value to advertisers. In other words the UK market is worth nothing - which is ironic considering every other London bus currently sports a picture of him in Armani pants or jeans.
According to the Independent, the tax has already caused athletes like Usain Bolt not to compete in the country. That false start, such a shame.
If my living was running after a tennis ball - something dogs do gleefully in parks for free - while getting paid $27m per year, I might be a little more circumspect about complaining at having a tiny fraction of my enormous wealth used to fund schools, hospitals, roads, etc.p.s. you can contact him on Twitter at @RafaelNadal
Perhaps UK Uncut could send Rafa a message when he plays at the O2 later this year?
