SYDNEY, Sept 9: An Australian cricket fan who paid US$250,000 to bring Don Bradman’s last baggy green cap home from England had to pay a massive tax bill on Tuesday to get the memento back from airport customs officers.

Tim Serisier flew from London into Melbourne on Monday with the cap Bradman wore in his final Test cricket series in 1948 only to have customs officers confiscate it and demand US$25,000 in sales tax — 10 percent of the price he paid for the cap in July.

Serisier, a banker and one-time customs officer, told national radio he would pay the tax immediately, but felt authorities could have showed a bit more sportsmanship.

“The check’s written and I’m headed to the airport to pay” the tax, Serisier said, adding: “It’s disappointing, because it will discourage Australian investors from bringing heritage items into this country.”

Serisier told The Australian newspaper that before he flew to London last week to collect the cap, he had asked both the Customs Service and the Taxation Office whether it would be liable for the 10 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The tax office responded “probably yes,” while customs told him “a cap is a cap is a cap”, which he took to mean the baggy green would be regarded as a piece of clothing and be exempt from the tax, Serisier said.

But customs officials in Melbourne said that as a collectible item, the cap was subject to GST.

Bradman, widely considered the best cricketer in history, wore the cap on Australia’s 1948 tour of England, which included his final Test innings.

Serisier bought the cap anonymously at auction in June then later announced he would bring it back to Australia to go on show during this southern summer’s Test series against India.—AFP