Premier League wages: How UK tax cuts will benefit top-flight stars | OneFootball

Premier League players are set to cash in by as much as seven figures after new UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a surprise package of tax cuts last week.

Chief among them was his decision to scrap the 45% additional rate of tax. This, combined with a reduction in National Insurance, means that high earners will end up with more money in their pockets from next April.

As you might expect, the vast majority of players in the English top-flight are higher-rate taxpayers (individuals earning over £150,000 a year).

How much does the average Premier League player earn?

According to a report from The Times, the average Premier League player rakes in £4 million a year – or £75,000 a week.

Based on those figures, players will see their net income rise by around £240,000 each year as a result of the tax reforms. Not a bad pay rise if you can get it!

Of course, the Premier League’s biggest names earn significantly more than £75,000 a week and will therefore see a far greater benefit.

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Who are the Premier League’s highest earners?

Per Capology, five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo is the English top-flight’s best-paid star, collecting a staggering £515,000 every week at Manchester United.

The Portuguese superstar is followed by Manchester City pair Kevin De Bruyne (£400,000 a week) and Erling Haaland (£375,000 a week).

United’s David de Gea and Jadon Sancho round out the top five, showing that Manchester is by far England’s most lucrative city to play your football in.

How much will the Premier League’s top earners benefit from UK tax cuts?

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire told The Times that he expects Ronaldo to be around £1.3m a year better off as a result of the reforms.

The league’s other biggest earners should also see tax savings of around seven figures, based on those numbers.

UK tax cuts could make the Premier League even more attractive to foreign players

The prospect of keeping more money in their pocket each week is likely to make the Premier League even more enticing to foreign stars, according to one Premier League chief executive.

They told the Times: “Tax can be an issue when negotiating transfers, as players want to know their net income, so I’m sure the tax cut will make the Premier League more attractive.”

While Serie A and Ligue 1 will still offer a more lenient tax regime, transfer intermediary Saif Rubie is convinced that the changes will see more foreign stars make the switch to the Premier League.

“The Premier League is now the leading league in the world as far as its wealth across the board [goes] and this extra incentive with taxation I’m sure will help,” he admitted.

How does taxation in the Premier League compares with Europe’s other major competitions?

From next April, the top rate of tax in England will be 40%. This is less than both the 47% paid by La Liga players in Spain and the 45% paid in Germany by stars in the Bundesliga.

France and Italy, though, both offer special tax arrangements for overseas players.

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The highest rate of tax in Ligue 1 for foreign players is 27%, while in Serie A imports are entitled to receive 50% of their salary tax-free for up to five years.

The Premier League can’t compete with those numbers, but will clubs will collectively pay £70m less in taxes than the £1.4 billion they forked out three years ago.