Foreign players face RWC tax slug
The economic benefit to the United Kingdom of hosting the 2015 World Cup is projected to be more than £2.1 billion but top foreign players will not receive a tax break, in contrast to leading athletes such as Usain Bolt.
Chancellor George Osborne announced in his UK Budget that star athletes such as Bolt would be exempt from paying income tax at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year and that the same exemption would be extended to the athletics event in London on the first anniversary of the Olympics.
Teams playing in the Champions League final at Wembley this year will also be exempt from tax, following requests from Uefa.
However, it is understood that the International Rugby Board (IRB) did not make any request to the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport that overseas players should receive a tax exemption during their stay in the UK.
The RWC tournament will run from Sept 18 to Oct 31.
The UK taxes the earnings by overseas athletes from appearance fees and prize money at 50 per cent. It also taxes athletes on a proportion of their global endorsement income.
The economic impact benefit to the UK is predicted to be £2.1 billion and that the event would also generate £300million for the IRB, which relies on the tournament for 98 per cent of its income.
On top of the £80 million tournament fee, the UK market is predicted to attract a further £220 million in commercial returns from broadcasting, sponsorship and merchandising.
Ian Jarrett
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