Luke Littler loses huge amount after being slapped with big bill
Littler is expected to be hit with a bill in excess of €155,000
Luke Littler has reportedly made more than £1million this year by playing darts, but he will lose a chunk of that with a hefty tax bill to pay.
While the 17-year-old from Warrington was practically unknown on the world stage a year ago, a stellar 2024 season has saw him rise to fame and fortune. The youngster made his debut as a 66/1 outsider at the 2024 World Darts Championship as a result of his placement on the PDC Development tour, but he quickly proved bookmakers wrong by making it to the final of the event.
He blazed through the likes of Christian Kist, Andrew Gilding, Matt Campbell, Raymond van Barneveld, Brendan Dolan and Rob Cross to make it to the last game of the tournament with Luke Humphries. And while he was ultimately bested 7-4 by the world No.1, he made a name for himself by holding his own against some of the world's best players while becoming the youngest player to make it to the final of the Worlds at just 16 years and 347 days.
Fast forward to December 2024, and Littler has already racked up a number of prestigious accolades in his maiden season in the big leagues. He scooped the Bahrain Masters in January, blitzed through the Players Championship in February, smashed the Belgian Darts Open in March - while also picking up Premier League, Austrian Darts, Poland Darts Masters, World Series of Darts and Grand Slam of Darts titles.
And thanks to his efforts, Littler has earned £618,500 in the PDC's Order of Merit alone - a figure which will rise to £633K for appearing in the second round of the Worlds against Ian White on Saturday (December 28) and continue to grow depending on how far he progresses through the tournament.
However, thanks to his incredible earnings, Littler is expected to pay a hefty tax bill at the end of the financial year according to sport finance expert, Dr Rob Wilson. Speaking to Card Player, the money guru explained: "On a simple tax calculation, he will have lost 40, 45% of his earnings, but he's not going to be on a normal tax calculation. He's going to have companies set up doing certain things.
"He's going to have big expenses that need to be taken off those earnings. So the reality is that he's paid 20% of that back in tax, then that probably feels about right. It might be a little bit less if he's got some really good tax advisory around him which we'd expect someone to have that's having that sort of earning capacity.
"It's not about evasion, that's just being efficient with the use of tax and how you generate your expenses and the types of activities that you undertake. Let's not forget that of that 600 plus thousand, he also has a team around him that he needs to pay for. They will all be on salaries, he needs hotels, he needs travel, and all of those things get wrapped up in some of that as well.
"Having earned £633,000, you can estimate that he’s kept 500k of that. But if he’s got a competition manager and a personal assistant and a chauffeur and so on and so forth, all of that's going to come off that 633. The expenses are high. It's like golfers, golfers get paid loads because of prize money on offer, but actually it costs them a lot to travel around the world and do the competitions as well, unless they're fortunate enough to get paid to do that as well."
However, the £633,000 sum only covers the amount that Littler has achieved on the PDC's Order of Merit - inclusive of appearing in the second round of the Worlds - and doesn't take into consideration any non-ranked prize money he has won this year, such as a £275K Premier League prize pot and invitational tournament earnings.
Littler is thought to have earned well over £1million this year thanks to said tournaments, and it is anticipated that his tax bill could be higher than Dr Wilson's estimations as a result - especially if Littler makes it to the final of the Worlds once more. The winner of the tournament will take home a mammoth £500K, while the second-best player will earn a respectable £200K for their efforts.
'The Nuke' kicked off his World Championship in emphatic form, besting Ryan Meikle in the first round 3-1. The youngster will go head-to-head with 54-year-old White in the second round, who is currently ranked 57th in the world.
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
Related
Share this page
Guest Posts by Easy Branches
