Jannik Sinner has won the Wimbledon men’s singles title for the second year in a row, beating Alexander Zverev in a thrilling final on Centre Court – but he faces losing almost half of his £3.6m prize money to HMRC
Jannik Sinner has forfeited almost half of his Wimbledon prize money to tax after defeating Alexander Zverev in the final at the All England Club. Sinner triumphed following a 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-4 victory on Centre Court on Sunday.
The Italian claimed the fifth Grand Slam of his career. Along with the prestigious Wimbledon trophy, he also pocketed a staggering £3.6million winner’s cheque. However, the 24 year old has already surrendered £1.62m of that sum to HMRC, reports the Express.
The top nominal income tax rate in the UK stands at 45 per cent, which applies to earnings exceeding £125,140 within a tax year. Given the prize money runs into the millions and Sinner falls within the highest tax bracket, the funds he collects will be taxed at the maximum income rate.
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Regrettably for Sinner, that means surrendering approximately £1,620,000 – roughly equivalent to half of his overall prize haul.
One element working in his favour, though, is that players can offset relevant business costs, such as flights, coaches and equipment, which could result in paying marginally less tax if their actual profit falls below £3.6m.
The identical 45% total income tax rate will also be imposed on the runner-up. Zverev collected a prize of £1.8m for finishing second.
Top seed Sinner’s journey to the final was marked by close straight-set victories over Nuno Borges and Jenson Brooksby, before he breezed past Shintaro Mochizuki and Jan-Lennard Struff. The reigning champion then put on a masterclass in the semi-finals, taking apart seventh seed Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win to reach the final without dropping a set since the first round.
On the other hand, second seed Zverev had to navigate through challenging four-set matches against Alexander Blockx and Jiri Lehecka to hit his stride. The German player then took apart sixth seed Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals before halting the dream run of British wildcard Arthur Fery, delivering a clinical 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-4 victory in the semi-finals.