Emma Raducanu will lose a huge amount of her Wimbledon prize money after raking in six figures at SW19. The young Brit was dumped out in the third round, losing to Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. It followed one-sided wins over Mimi Xu and Marketa Vondrousova in her opening two matches.
Raducanu put up a good fight against Sabalenka, taking the first set to a tiebreak, but the Belarusian ultimately proved too strong. She will be paid handsomely for making it to the third round, with the 22-year-old entitled to receive £152,000 in prize money. Had she managed to beat Sabalenka and get through to round four, she would have won £240,000.
The former US Open champion will not get to keep it all, though. She will be presented with a hefty tax bill, which will see almost half of her Wimbledon prize money taken away.
Paul Barham, tax partner at Forvis Mazars, told Express Sport: “Assuming that Emma is an additional rate taxpayer (with other income over £125,140), the tax rate that will apply to the prize money will be 45 per cent resulting in a UK tax liability of £68,400.
“Assuming Emma is resident in the UK, she is also likely to have Class Four National Insurance to pay at two per cent on this income resulting in a National Insurance liability of £3,040. Therefore, her take home pay after tax and NIC would be £80,560.
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“These figures represent the liabilities before taking into account any deductible expenses such as travel and accommodation costs and coaching fees. These expenses can be deducted from the taxable amount and will therefore reduce the final tax bill.”
Raducanu was visibly emotional in the wake of her defeat to Sabalenka, admitting that it was hard to see the positives in her post-match press conference.
“I think I’m just very self-critical,” she explained. “It’s hard to see. Of course, I’m very proud of being competitive on the court. I think I would rather that than it being completely one way.
“But, yes, there are positives. Right now, it’s so soon after the match. I think it’s better for me to kind of feel a bit of the pain right now and then process it better that way.
“I think it’s difficult to see that right now, having just come off the court. It’s hard to take a loss like that. At the same time, I’m playing Aryna, who is No. 1 in the world, a great champion. I have to be proud of my effort today.”
Sabalenka, meanwhile, has set up a quarter-final date with Laura Siegemund after beating Elise Mertens in the fourth round. If she goes all the way and wins her first Wimbledon title, she will land a whopping £3million in prize money.
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