Luke Littler’s sensational Grand Slam of Darts victory over Luke Humphries as turned him into the top-ranked player in the world.
Luke Littler’s meteoric rise continued on Sunday evening after the 18-year-old won the Grand Slam of Darts, becoming World No. 1 in the process.
But the Runcorn-born sensation will have to give up an enormous slice of his prize winnings straight away, despite humbling the previous top-ranked player, Luke Humphries, 16-11 in the Wolverhampton final.
The reward for his efforts includes a cheque for £150,000, taking Littler’s earnings over the past two years to a whopping £1,850,000. But he’s facing a significant tax hit, with nearly half of his prize money earmarked for HMRC.
Littler started the year in emphatic fashion, becoming the youngest ever PDC World Darts Champion, where he defeated Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final.
The prize money for winning the biggest prize in the sport was £500,000, but under UK tax laws, he was forced to give up £223,213 to HMRC, alongside up to £12,010 in National Insurance contributions, reducing his take home pay by over £230,000.
Despite the huge dent in his earnings, Littler will be well aware that a large portion of his prize fund would be taken by the tax authorities after winning the title.
Last year, when Littler burst onto the scene with a run to the World Championship final, he received £200,000 in prize money after losing to Humphries at the final hurdle. He then received a light-hearted reminder about taxes from the HMRC official social media account.
They posted: “Big congrats to Luke on his fantastic run to the final,” before humorously adding: “We can confirm the existence of income tax.”
For now though, Littler will be basking in the glory of reaching the top of the tree in record time. Speaking after his Grand Slam triumph, he said: “I am the best in the world, I can finally say it.
“World number one, you are the best in the world. To top it off by going back-to-back here makes it even more special.
“Now I’m number one, I’m hungry to stay there. I want to be there for the next few years.
“There’s going to be a target on my back from Luke [Humphries] and all the other players. It’s made me more hungry.”