Fitzy
NRL Captain
- Sep 10, 2018
- 4,836
- 7,105
Agreed. Easiest story in the world to write up.
The only way he gets this money tax free is if he completely moves himself and his family to Dubai permanently. There’s a lot of rules in place to stop you from cheating the system. His kids, wife and brothers would all have to move (potentially not his brothers but there circumstantial arrangement would undoubtedly change) for them not to be taxed. I’m no tax expert especially on the foreign tax aspect nor have I ever had any experience with working overseas but I know you can’t just try loopholing it by buying a property in Dubai and never living there. This is a couple month around the globe league without a preseason. I can’t see a world where he gets around the ATO not taxing his foreign income unless he moves his whole family to Dubai so he can play a handful of rugby games of which only one would be in Dubai at maximum.
My understanding is he can’t just “live” in Dubai and play rugby around the global for 182 days of the year (one of the non foreign taxable thresholds) and send all the money back home to his wife and kids either. He is providing a really strong platform to his brothers that they never would have had. Both talented rugby/league players with opportunities with the broncos and at State High. This is a bloke that has been on a pretty penny for close to a decade already. Salary cap is only about to go up and significantly so you would have to assume. Is the risk really worth it at your families expense? As much as everyone here is thinking money is what’s best for his family the bloke is already rolling in it and has supreme financial security for another decade and then opportunities beyond. I think the alternative is a far greater financial risk, he may well find he won’t get tax free income unless he moves his whole family permanently and the league is a certainty to bust.
I wish all the best for Payne I really do, he has worn his heart on his sleeve for this great club half after half, game after game, year after year. I have never seen a poor effort from the bloke. But I do question how smart of a move this is for him. I don’t think it’s a smart move for nearly anyone this early in there careers with Payne’s earning potential domestically. In my opinion beyond the potentially significantly overstated financial benefit and supposed security the competition itself is so unrewarding whilst at the expense of his family. I don’t know about him but to me family and family dynamic is incredibly important and Payne has built a really stable, happy family with his partner/wife(?) very quickly and that’s not something I’d be risking for 2 or 3 years at best of a commercially unviable product.
