Hero to Zero (Mo Farah content)?

[TwigtheWonderkid]

NailedOn said:

Also he is a tax exile who lives in Oregon.
So being British is a flag of convenience.

Utter bks. A tax exile is someone who goes to live abroad with the prime motive being to avoid paying UK tax. Not someone who goes to work abroad because the opportunities to enhance their career lie in another country, and obviously whilst living in that country, pay their tax locally.

Sir Philip Green, who lives in Monaco, is a tax exile. My mate, who lives in Monaco because his employer offered him a position out there for 5 years, is not.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

TVR1 said:

Not heard of Daley Thompson then? Possibly the best all round athelete the world has seen, let alone Britain. Not only holding Olympic and Commonwealth Records at the same time, he was the world record holder for many of the individual events that make up the Decathlon. Even, on one occasion, being able to beat the the world record in an event (that wasnt his best event) but holding back to put his energy into one he could.

David Attenborough has my shout as the greatest living Brit though....

Daley Thompson was a great athlete, but the only world record he ever held was the decathlon. He never held a world record for any of the individual events. his achievements don't match those of Mo Farah, in my opinion.

David Attenborough is a good shout for greatest living Brit.

[Halb]

NailedOn said:

Also he is a tax exile who lives in Oregon.
So being British is a flag of convenience.

Twig covered why that is not really accurate, but even so, so what? He chooses to represent Britain.

Edited by Halb on Monday 31st August 10:29

[Kermit power]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

NailedOn said:

Also he is a tax exile who lives in Oregon.
So being British is a flag of convenience.

Utter bks. A tax exile is someone who goes to live abroad with the prime motive being to avoid paying UK tax. Not someone who goes to work abroad because the opportunities to enhance their career lie in another country, and obviously whilst living in that country, pay their tax locally.

Sir Philip Green, who lives in Monaco, is a tax exile. My mate, who lives in Monaco because his employer offered him a position out there for 5 years, is not.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/olympic-hero-mo-farah-applies-3014093

[Countdown]

NailedOn said:

Also he is a tax exile who lives in Oregon.
So being British is a flag of convenience.

So by your definition any expat, living and working abroad (and not paying UK tax) isn't really British ?

[JuniorD]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

TVR1 said:

David Attenborough has my shout as the greatest living Brit though....

David Attenborough is a good shout for greatest living Brit.

The climate change save the drowning polar bears geezer?

[TwigtheWonderkid]

JuniorD said:

The climate change save the drowning polar bears geezer?

A fabulous summary of a 60 year career in broadcasting.

[Slaav]

There appears to be a plague of hyperbole around this thread???

For me, Steve Redgrave will forever take some beating! Mo isn't there yet (IMHO)

Redgrave switched partners, boats etc and managed a couple of big wins over changing rules, styles, boats etc.

And he did it across FIVE Olympic cycles wasn't it? How many World Championships??? approx 9 according to Wiki.....

[JuniorD]

Slaav said:

There appears to be a plague of hyperbole around this thread???

For me, Steve Redgrave will forever take some beating! Mo isn't there yet (IMHO)

Redgrave switched partners, boats etc and managed a couple of big wins over changing rules, styles, boats etc.

And he did it across FIVE Olympic cycles wasn't it? How many World Championships??? approx 9 according to Wiki.....

Don't think Redgrave would get my vote as greatest athlete, as he wasn't the only man in the boat each time. It has to be an individual thing.

Greatest Olympian - probably. But at the London Olympics he came over a right bore with his omnipresence at every GB success - be it on track, field or river - to hold up the winning athlete and absorb some of their hard earned glory and limelight. It was if his five medals mean every subsequent Olympics is still all about him.

[Slaav]

JuniorD said:

Slaav said:

There appears to be a plague of hyperbole around this thread???

For me, Steve Redgrave will forever take some beating! Mo isn't there yet (IMHO)

Redgrave switched partners, boats etc and managed a couple of big wins over changing rules, styles, boats etc.

And he did it across FIVE Olympic cycles wasn't it? How many World Championships??? approx 9 according to Wiki.....

Don't think Redgrave would get my vote as greatest athlete, as he wasn't the only man in the boat each time. It has to be an individual thing.

Greatest Olympian - probably. But at the London Olympics he came over a right bore with his omnipresence at every GB success - be it on track, field or river - to hold up the winning athlete and absorb some of their hard earned glory and limelight. It was if his five medals mean every subsequent Olympics is still all about him.

Fair point but I actually think it makes it a greater achievement! As an ex rower, 'chemistry' is as important in a boat as it is in a rugby team... And to have excelled in pairs and fours (coxed and cox less I believe) is pretty good! For many of those years, they were simply unbeaten and truly World a Class boats turned up to race for 2nd

The sheer dominance (especially with Pinsent - yep, that makes your point against mine) was phenomenal! One could argue that Bolt has similar aura and dominance?

If fit, some athletes/sportsmen simply 'can't' be beaten! That is incredible. Only now is 'Our Mo' showing that sort of dominance. If he manages it over several Olympic cycles, then he starts to elevate his record in my opinion. Just too soon now though?

[Halb]

Dominance over a significant period of time would solidify his sporting hero status.
Like Aleksandr Karelin.

[NailedOn]

Countdown said:

NailedOn said:

Also he is a tax exile who lives in Oregon.
So being British is a flag of convenience.

So by your definition any expat, living and working abroad (and not paying UK tax) isn't really British ?

All covered on page 1 of this thread.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/olympic-hero-mo-farah-app...
He is not a UK resident.
It suited his family to move from Somalia to England and now it suits him to live in the U.S.
It's a free world and he made his choices. Good for him.

[DJRC]

I'm intrigued at the notion of anyone moving to Oregon on the grounds of being a tax exile I strongly suspect that was not one of the motivations

[Countdown]

NailedOn said:

Countdown said:

NailedOn said:

Also he is a tax exile who lives in Oregon.
So being British is a flag of convenience.

So by your definition any expat, living and working abroad (and not paying UK tax) isn't really British ?

All covered on page 1 of this thread.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/olympic-hero-mo-farah-app...
He is not a UK resident.
It suited his family to move from Somalia to England and now it suits him to live in the U.S.
It's a free world and he made his choices. Good for him.

Yes, I've read that. The word "tax exile" gets people excited. In reality it is NO DIFFERENT to the tax arrangments of any long term expats. So my original question still stands - do you consider people who have moved from the UK to anywhere else not to be British?

And the same applies to him relocating his family. Thousands of people do it every year. mainly for financial reasons. Philip Green would be a prime example. So would Jenson Button. Not British in your eyes?

[DJRC]

Actually we do it for the weather. And to get away from the all pervading miserable pessimism of Britain.

[Murph7355]

He'll need to set world records in his events IMO. Or pull in a few more championships.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Jenson Button & Philip Green are British, but they are also tax exiles, which in my eyes devalues them as individuals despite their their achievements.

Mo Farah is not a tax exile. He has not moved to Oregon in order to hang on to a greater share of his earnings. He has moved there because of his coaching and training facilities, to maximise his talent and further his career.

Even if Oregon has a more advantageous tax regime than the UK, it's irrelevant, because that wasn't the motivation for going.

[Countdown]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Jenson Button & Philip Green are British, but they are also tax exiles, which in my eyes devalues them as individuals despite their their achievements.

Mo Farah is not a tax exile. He has not moved to Oregon in order to hang on to a greater share of his earnings. He has moved there because of his coaching and training facilities, to maximise his talent and further his career.

Even if Oregon has a more advantageous tax regime than the UK, it's irrelevant, because that wasn't the motivation for going.

Fair enough. I'm just wondering why some people don't like the thought of Mo being British........

[Mojocvh]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Jenson Button & Philip Green are British, but they are also tax exiles, which in my eyes devalues them as individuals despite their their achievements.

Mo Farah is not a tax exile. He has not moved to Oregon in order to hang on to a greater share of his earnings. He has moved there because of his coaching and training facilities, to maximise his talent and further his career.

Even if Oregon has a more advantageous tax regime than the UK, it's irrelevant, because that wasn't the motivation for going.

Yeah the grass is greener baby...............................

[Steffan]

DJRC said:

Actually we do it for the weather. And to get away from the all pervading miserable pessimism of Britain.

That seems a pretty fair assessment to me. We are off back to Lucca, in Italy for 18 months for the next couple of years, certainly. Coming back to the UK regularly but probably for two weeks at a time, to keep up with growing grandchildren and old friends and family.

Whilst the freedom of movement and domicile is offered as it is in the UK currently, then I can see absolutely no reason why individuals should not seek their fortune wherever they may decide that should be. There are as yet no restrictions on seeking jobs outside the UK and I cannot think there will be in my lifetime.

In consequence the Government really has no method or process to ensure any UK taxation whatsoever, is paid by overseas residents not domiciled nor ordinarily resident in the UK. That may not suit the Socialist mania for getting as much as possible for their ludicrous and self serving taxpayer funded projects from every possible source. But it is one if the many consequence of the freedom of movement achieved by our forefathers in Two World Wars, at huge persinal cost, who fought hard and long to ensure Britain remained a free country.

Unless there is major change to the laws of England that willremain the case. As the Official Reciever of the time, himself, remarked to me years many ago on a difficult Insolvency matter,

" Once the individuals concerned leave the shores of this country to all intents and purposes they are outside our jurisdiction. Unless major fraud is involved or other serious criminal matters we are not empowered to continue action."

That is still substantially the case. There are some efforts to pursue miscreants but not very effectively.

There are movements within Europe to enable more effective monitoring of overseas earnings. But the reality is still that if someone genuinely lives and works abroad and only returns for limited periods, within the existing levels accepted by the IR, then there is no UK taxation to be collected. The Socialists might want there to be but there simply is not.

That is if course, very different from the Nonsense offshore devices frequently lauded as safe havens by fast buck operators. If overall control remains within the UK or individuals within the UK receive receipts within the UK or indeed outside the UK from whatever source they control then those devices clearly fall within the remit of evasion and are illegal. Surprisingly few of these are actually being challenged by the Revenue. I believe the Rangers case which was outlawed by the Revenue years ago is still unsettled and massive losses to the treasury seems likely never to be recovered from that affair. It would seems the Reveue simply are not staffed to the point where these cases can be effectively challenged.

I dislike and do not support articificial offshore devices clearly intended to evade taxation often hidden away, within apparently legitimate guises. Such devices are nothing more than cheating the Revenue which is itself a crime within the UK. But whilst we have our hard fought freedom of movement around the Western World those who avail thenselves of it are entitled to do so, I believe. As ever, up to each individual and his family to make that choice.