Luke Littler to lose huge chunk of £200,000 prize as tax deductions explained
Luke Littler landed a £200,000 pay-day after reaching the final of the World Darts Championship, but the 16-year-old will see close to half of that amount go towards taxes and related deductions.
Runcorn-born Littler reached the final on his PDC World Championship debut, overcoming former champions Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross along the way. He came up short against Luke Humphries, despite having chances to open up a lead, but still secured by far the biggest score of his career.
Following his 7-4 loss to Humphries, Littler will get an early lesson in the UK tax system. Here Mirror Sport provides the lowdown on where all that money will go.
According to an expert at investment platform Saxo, some £76,203 of Littler's £200,000 prize money will go to the tax man. Throw in £7,330 in National Insurance and his total take home drops down to just under £117,000.
"Everybody needs to pay tax, no matter their age, and under 18s have the same personal allowance as adults," said Andrew Mangion, head of tax product at Saxo. "Normally children don’t work or if they do, their pay is generally under the tax free allowance.
Darts chief explains Premier League selection after stars fume over snubs
"In this case, it's rare for a teenager to come into so much money in one lump sum and we would advise him to take professional financial advice on how to best act on this."
Littler has climbed into the top 32 in the world rankings following his breakout performance, guaranteeing him a tour card for 2024. He has also been added to the roster for the upcoming Premier League Darts tournament, guaranteeing him a payday of at least £60,000.
Can Luke Littler go even further next year? Have your say in the comments section
Luke Littler finished as runner-up to Luke Humphries (PA)“It will be right up my street and I can't wait," Littler said of his inclusion. "Obviously Manchester and Liverpool are very close to my home town (Warrington) and I'm looking forward to the magnificent Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Cardiff, Brighton... it's going to be an amazing experience.
“Playing darts week in, week out, in front of tens of thousands of fans, against the world's best players, is a dream come true. I'm looking forward to the Mercedes-Benz arena – it's massive and they have a nice crowd over there in Germany.
“It might be lively in Cardiff if I end up playing Gezzy there on the opening night when he gets the crowd on his side but it will be an amazing experience and a good test for myself. But that's the nature of the Premier League – I've just got to do what I do and show why I'm there every week.”
The Premier League gets underway on February 1, with the first event taking place in Cardiff. There is a total prize pool of £1million to play for, with the overall winner taking home £275,000 on top of any weekly prizes they are able to accumulate.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
