Woods may skip Ryder Cup over reluctance to pay 1 million pound tax bill
By ANITuesday, August 10, 2010
LONDON - American golfing great Tiger Woods’ reluctance to accept a Ryder Cup wild card may in part be due to a one million pound tax bill he could face for playing in the event.
The world No 1, who is reportedly going through an expensive divorce, is notoriously careful with his finances, and is no great lover of the biennial match between Europe and the US, The Independent reports.
Woods would not be the first athlete to keep away from Britain because of its new punitive tax rules.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has pulled out of a high-profile race in London this weekend. And prospective members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team whose main residence, like Woods, is in the tax haven of Florida, could also be hit.
According to The Independent, leading players have voiced their concerns to the European Tour, the organisers of the Ryder Cup, and a Tour spokesman last night confirmed that they are in “discussions” with HMRC.
Woods’ deal with Nike is rumoured to pay 40 million dollars a year. So, if he played 14 events this year, and one of those is the Ryder Cup, he would be billed to pay tax, at 50 per cent, on one-fourteenth of that amount, leaving the potential tax bill as high as 900,000 pounds.
The taxman would no doubt also be interested in the reported 10 million dollars he receives from EA Sports, for whom his name and images appear in a computer game based on the Ryder Cup.
For now, Woods is outside the eight Ryder Cup qualifying positions and with just this USPGA Championship remaining in the US race needs at least a top-10 finish here to earn a spot automatically. (ANI)
