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Usain Bolt Sprinting Away from UK's Taxman

Posted by Brett Davis - July 13, 2010

Last week I wrote about the state of Florida not having an income tax and how that may have influenced NBA superstar LeBron James’ decision to play for the Miami Heat. Now comes word that world-class sprinter Usain Bolt is considering not running in Britain until the 2012 London Olympics because of the country’s punishing tax rates.

Get a load of Britain’s recently-adopted punitive tax rules: Since April, overseas sports stars are liable for a top income tax rate of 50 percent. But wait, there’s more—the tax is levied not just on the money they earn in Britain, but also on a proportion of their worldwide sponsorship income. In essence, this means Bolt—a three-time Olympic gold medalist and current holder of three world records—could be subject to a huge tax bill larger than any money he earns from racing in Britain.
 
That’s right, competing in merry ol’ England could conceivably end up costing Bolt money. That’s not exactly a welcome wagon for the fleet-of-foot Jamaican.

The plot has thickened, with the revelation that the government of the United Kingdom has offered to assist Bolt in solving the tax issues cited by the track speedster in withdrawing from next month’s Crystal Palace Diamond League meet in London. Wonderful. A tax concession for one guy? I’m sure that will go over real well with the taxpaying rank-and-file in England.

England is providing more evidence for the notion that if you want less of something, you should tax it. Instead of attempting to solve its punitive tax problem by giving favorable treatment to an individual, British leaders should stop running away from the obvious solution: low, broad-based, stable and predictable tax rates that incentivize the world’s best athletes to compete in England. No doubt Usain Bolt would agree.
 
 
"See England way over there? I'm not competing there,
because their taxes are too high."

Thoughts?   Add Comment -

my name is Ben said on Jul 14 2010 at 8:49am
It was a real stretch thinking LeBron James drama has relevance here in WA but Usain Bolt not running in England?

Wait, I'm sorry. I checked my URL and it does say espn.go.com. My bad. Totally relevant.

Brett said on Jul 14 2010 at 1:23pm
I think you're comment is a bit of a stretch, given that the sports drama isn't the point of the two blogs you reference; how taxes affect human behavior in terms of incentivizing or disincentivizing people is.

Brett said on Jul 14 2010 at 1:26pm
I meant "your" not "you're." D'oh!

my name is Ben said on Jul 18 2010 at 11:32pm
Actually, that's what I was commenting on. Your nearsightedness just wanted my comment to be oppositional to yours.

Your state, Washington, doesn't have those kinds of taxes. If other places want to tax the uber rich for making uber dollars then I say go get them dollars. Money made to be taken, certainly not saved.

test said on Jul 20 2010 at 3:41pm
testing comments

Tungsten Wedding Bands said on Jul 24 2010 at 2:19am
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