Tax ...

Righto ... I made the post last week of Rafa's decision not to go to Queen's next year as he's accepted an invitation to Halle. And when asked about it, Rafa replied with honesty that as his 4-year contract with Queens was over and due to the archaic and unfair tax laws in the UK (my words ... certainly NOT his), he's off to Germany next year. Shame for us in the UK, definitely, but when you have the situation properly explained to you ... you can understand why he's done it.

Its a pity that when the likes of Simon Reed post an article on EuroSport supporting him, that he doesn't do the job properly and explain it. And I'm rather alarmed that articles such as his and plenty of others I've seen over the past week are on meltdown giving our Rafa a hard time. Now I know tax is one of the most boring things on the planet, but I'm going to continue to write about it.

Firstly, in the '90s when I had all sorts of confidence issues, I went on a quite wonderful course to help me - it was rather too la-la in parts and a bit like Oprah on acid, but when you spend your life being a people pleaser and saying that "I have to ..." to the detriment of yourself and your soul and all that good stuff, well the stand out message that the course delivered was ...

"There are only two things that you HAVE to do in life. The first is to die ... and the second ... is to pay tax."

In other words, apart from those two things, you have a choice. Now its been Rafa's choice to patronise Queen's for his 4 year contract and other than in 2009 because of injury, its been fabulous for us fans to see him there. But its his choice now not to come ... and the main reason is because of tax. (Did you see what I did there ;) )

Now then. Ellie (who I met in Cordoba) has posted a fantastic explanation of all of this on VB and she has given permission on the site that we can use her rationale to explain, so as its opened up my eyes ... here it is for you.

Simply put. You work for Company A in the UK and pay taxes to the UK Government on your salary earned. But you also have a second income stream as you have a holiday home in France that you let out and it generates you €10,000 euros. You pay tax in France on your €10,000, but because of the UK/French tax treaty, you are granted relief from also paying tax to the UK on this second income.

However, your company sends you to work in the US for 4 weeks. But whilst you are there, the US government taxes you on the second income income in France even though you're paying tax to the French government. You are not allowed to claim relief on this US charged tax because you are a citizen of neither country. Now then ... if that were the case, wouldn't you consider it reasonable to ask your company NOT to send you to the US as you effectively lose money for going there?

If Rafa pays taxes on - lets face it - 50% of his prize money earned in the UK, and he pays taxes on his endorsements and sponsorships in the appropriate countries worldwide where they are based, and his pays taxes in Spain on his own fortune, why the bloody hell should he also be liable for tax on his second income stream of endorsements whilst in the UK just because he came over here to play tennis? Especially so when that tournament is a paltry 250 series event and is not mandatory??

And of course ... the media slate him. And even those that so-called support him don't explain it properly. What about the media making a nice song and dance about those players that go and live in tax havens to escape paying it on their income in the first place. Old smugly himself, Federer, considers himself "lucky" that he is Swiss and therefore escapes it. But what about the majority of the French players that live in Switzerland to avoid tax? Which leads me onto him - The Prince of Darkness - you know, the proud Serb that beats his chest and pulls on his Serbia t-shirt upon victory in Madrid and his parents sit in the stands in their cheap Serbian caps and scarves. The man doesn't even live there. He's a citizen of Monaco thereby avoids paying tax to the Serbian government which goes some way to aiding the people that he is soooooo proud to be one of. Two-faced twonk.

Write an article about all of that on the subject of tax, media.