The increase in prize money at Wimbledon this year has been described as a win for HMRC by a top tax advisory firm.
Winners of the men’s and women’s singles titles will each bag themselves £3m at this year’s Wimbledon Championships, a figure up on last year’s sum.
Even first round losers will earn £66,000 at this year’s grand slam at the All England Club.
Prize money at the lucrative grass court event has doubled in the last decade, and this year’s total prize pot is a 7 per cent increase on the 2024 fund.
“While most of the players at Wimbledon will not be tax resident in the UK, the tax rules applying to international sports people mean that they will be fully taxable in the UK on their winnings,” Robert Salter, director at Blick Rothenberg, said, “as well as any additional UK-specific fees which they might get while in the UK for appearing at specific events for sponsors and a share of their wider image and marketing fees.”
Wimbledon cash grab
Wimbledon is not the only major international event happening in the UK this summer, with events like golf’s Open Championship in July set to hand HMRC a financial boost too.
Added Salter: “Though the organisers of Wimbledon will be obliged to withhold tax at a flat rate of 20 per cent on each player’s core prize money, with the prize money for a first round loser in the men’s and women’s singles events being £66,000, well above the £50,000 at which the 40 per cent tax band starts, most players including those individuals with little or no image right income, will be obliged to submit an annual tax return and pay the additional tax which is due.”
There are a record number of British wildcards at this year’s Championships, all of whom could be captured by this extra tax payment to HMRC should they reach the first round in SW19.
Concludes Salter: “Leading professional events such as Wimbledon, or the Open Championship in July, aren’t just a ‘win’ for sports fans, they are a win for the HMRC’s coffers too.”
