Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the list of footballers who pay the most tax in the Premier League after his return to Old Trafford last summer.
The 37-year-old, who has scored 24 goals in all competitions this season including 18 in the league, is comfortably the highest-paid player in the Premier League. The Portuguese superstar is understood to earn around £510,000-a-week on the two-year contract he signed in August 2021.
The veteran star's jaw-dropping wage packet may make the average UK worker green with envy, but earning such extortionate wages comes at a very heavy cost, at least with the taxman. Of the £26.5m Ronaldo rakes in through his gross income, nearly half of that amount goes straight to HM Revenue and Customs.
Ronaldo has to pay a whopping £12.78m in tax alone on his wages, leaving him with a net income of £13.74m. However, as a global footballer and marketing icon, Ronaldo has dozens of sponsorship deals which would inevitably boost his income. There is also little doubt that footballers, with the help of accountants, can find legal tax breaks and loopholes to pay a lower amount of tax.
The data, conducted by RIFT Tax Refunds and published by CityAM, lists Kevin de Bruyne as the second-highest earner on the list. The Belgian inked a five-year contract last season to commit his future to Manchester City and the deal is thought to be worth around £400,000-a-week, giving him a gross total of £20.8m.
Like Ronaldo, nearly half of his income goes straight to the tax man's coffers due to the UK's decision to tax those earning £150,000 and above a flat rate of 45 per cent on their income. Man United goalkeeper David de Gea pays a similar rate with £9.40m in tax being taken from his £390,000-a-week wages, while United colleagues Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane hand over £8.77m and £8.52m respectively.
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Chelsea flop Romelu Lukaku earns a cool £16.9m annually and pays £8.14m in tax, making him the highest-earning footballer based outside of Manchester to contribute to the Inland Revenue's very own warchest.
Of course, their Premier League counterparts may simply watch on in envy given the eye-watering sums are streets ahead of what they can put in their bank accounts. The average salary in the Premier League is understood to be £3.12m-a-year, levelling out at £60,000-a-week. With an average income tax bill of £1.45m, the burder is much lower than the likes of Ronaldo.
“It’s fair to say that the Premier League’s biggest names earn more in the time it takes to tie their boot laces than many of us earn in a year,” said Bradley Post, CEO of RIFT Tax Refunds. “That said, the amount of tax they contribute is astounding, contributing huge amounts to the UK economy before you even account for the money generated by fans eagerly travelling around the country to watch them play."
