Focus on sports as industry, not taxes

The Editor, Sir:

For many years, I have been calling for a government policy to develop a sports industry in Jamaica. I wrote a paper on this and submitted it to the Government against the backdrop that we are now in a digital world where content is king, and sports, the king of content. Brand Jamaica is at least a 'crown prince' in the world of sports and has a wonderful opportunity to establish a domestic industry out of the abundance of innate athletic talent with which we are blessed.

But an industry will not be created out of this natural resource if a comprehensive policy is not implemented to foster it. That industry policy will need to have a legal and regulatory framework to encourage private-sector investment for sustainability, and the protection and development of our main industry assets - our sportsmen and women. A fundamental requirement is a special tax regime for our athletes.

No revenue assurances

Our athletes have a very limited career span, which is subject to high earnings risk because of the potential of injury. Also, unlike other developed countries where a full-fledged sports industry already exists (e.g. the USA, the UK, etc), we generally have no revenue assurances for athletes against injuries, such as lucrative endorsements and other career extensions (e.g. sports commentary). And because of our small size, these athletes have a disproportionate impact on this country when they win or lose, which cannot be ignored.

To say simply that they should pay taxes like everybody else in Jamaica is faulty thinking and ignores the other significant benefits we all derive from their successes at home and overseas and the bigger opportunity to develop an industry out of these formidable assets. The example of our tourist industry where we created tax incentives to encourage investment and from which we now enjoy foreign-exchange rewards is a simple illustration of this point. We took our resources (our beaches and natural beauty) and employed a special policy and tax holiday to encourage investment and create a full-fledged industry from these resources. We should treat the sports industry no less favourably, given its massive potential for the country in the years to come.

Can the Government please implement the sports industry policy we have been hearing about for the past three years and end this debate about taxing our athletes?

I am, etc.,

CHRIS DEHRING

Kingston