How Much Tax Do England Football Stars Pay?

Rachel Greenway

, Senior Copywriter

Last updated on July 05, 2024

For Euro 2024, we thought we’d take a peek at what some of the England squad might be taking home after tax…

Just like the rest of our great nation, we’re a little football-obsessed here at PayFit. So much so that we’ll often think about things like how the salaries & benefits of our nation’s greatest playing talents might look from a payroll perspective.

We did this once before, back during the last World Cup, when we looked at how much tax a Premier League footballer might pay if their salary were to go through PAYE. So we decided to do it again - this time looking at the salaries (taken from Capology) of England’s current Euro squad and how these would break down under the UK’s tax system.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what kind of take-home is really coming home - at least, for the likes of megastars like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. But we’ll also compare these to the pay packets of more up-and-coming players like Conor Gallagher and Kobbie Mainoo, and see how these break down under PAYE.

Let’s bend it like Beckham and kick things off, shall we?

Legislation bytes

A little spoiler alert - all of the salaries we’ll be covering in this post are (well) over £100,000.00. Why is this significant from a tax perspective? Because someone over this level of gross salary wouldn’t be entitled to a Personal Allowance. This is due to tapering of earnings over £100,000.00 - the Personal Allowance is reduced by £1 for every £1 above this threshold. So in calculating tax for a person above this salary, you don’t need to account for a Personal Allowance.

Harry Kane’s Salary (under PAYE)

We thought we’d start with the legend himself - the HurriKane.

A prolific goalscorer with fantastic link up play, Kane is arguably one of the best strikers of his generation. And the numbers back this up.

He’s the highest all-time goalscorer for his former, long-term club, Tottenham Hotspur. Check. As well as for England. Check. He’s also the second-highest all-time goalscorer in the Premier League behind Alan Shearer. Not bad for an as-yet-unfinished career’s work!

You would think, with these impressive stats, that England’s star player would command an equally mind-blowing salary - and with £21,514,896 grossed annually, that would certainly seem to be the case.

But what would Kane actually take home if his salary ran through England’s PAYE tax system? Here’s a breakdown below.

Tax thresholds	Annual	Monthly	Weekly	Daily
Gross Income	£21,514,896.00	£1,792,908.00	£413,748.00	£82,749.60
Taxable Income	£21,514,896.00	£1,792,908.00	£413,748.00	£82,749.60
Tax Due @ 20%	£7,540.00	£628.33	£145.00	£29.00
Tax Due @ 40%	£34,975.60	£2,914.63	£672.61	£134.52
Tax Due @ 45%	£9,625,390.20	£802,115.85	185,103.66	£37,020.73
Total Tax Due	£9,667,906.20	£805,658.85	£185,921.28	£37,184.25
National Insurance	£432,308.52	£36,025.71	£8,313.63	£1,662.73
2024 Take Home	£11,414,681.28	£951,223.44	£219,513.09	£43,902.62

Jude Bellingham’s Salary (under PAYE)

Known for his technical prowess, sharp vision and incredible goal scoring capability (I mean, who can forget that jaw-dropping bicycle kick againstSlovakia!), Bellingham’s star is burning brighter by the day.

Not only has the Golden Boy of Europe won major awards for being one of the best all-around male players, but he’s also managed to knab a Kopa Trophy for his performance this past season.

But do all those fancy bicycle kicks earn Bellingham the megabucks? We’d say so at £17,926,220 per year.

Here’s what UK football’s Golden Boy would take home under PAYE.

Tax thresholds	Annual	Monthly	Weekly	Daily
Gross	£17,926,220.00	£1,493,851.67	£344,735.00	£68,947.00
Taxable Income	£17,926,220.00	£1,493,851.67	£344,735.00	£68,947.00
Tax Due @ 20%	£7,540.00	£628.33	£145.00	£29.00
Tax Due @ 40%	£34,975.60	£2,914.63	£672.61	£134.52
Tax Due @ 45%	£8,010,486.00	£667,540.50	£154,047.81	£30,809.56
Total Tax Due	£8,053,002.00	£671,083.50	£154,865.43	£30,973.08
National Insurance	£360,535.00	£30,044.58	£6,933.37	£1,386.67
2024 Take Home	£9,512,683.00	£792,723.59	£182,936.20	£36,587.25

Conor Gallagher’s Salary (under PAYE)

Of course, not all players on the England squad are taking home gravity-defying paychecks. Nevertheless, their salaries are still incredibly impressive, with many grossing over £2 million annually.

Take Gallagher, for instance, a homegrown player who’s worked his way up to becoming an industrious midfielder.

Gallagher’s take-home salary might look something like this…

Tax thresholds	Annual	Monthly	Weekly	Daily
Gross	£2,600,000.00	£216,666.67	£50,000.00	£10,000.00
Taxable Income	£2,600,000.00	£216,666.67	£50,000.00	£10,000.00
Tax Due @ 20%	£7,540.00	£628.33	£145.00	£29.00
Tax Due @ 40%	£34,975.60	£2,914.63	£672.61	£134.52
Tax Due @ 45%	£1,113,687.00	£92,807.25	£21,417.06	£4,283.41
Total Tax Due	£1,156,203.00	£96,350.25	£22,234.68	£4,446.93
National Insurance	£54,010.60	£4,500.88	£1,038.67	£207.73
2024 Take Home	£1,389,786.40	£115,815.54	£26,726.65	£5,345.34

Kobbie Mainoo’s Salary (under PAYE)

Finally, let’s round this little exploration off with Kobbie Mainoo. His bio on the Man Utd website describes him as ‘creatively outstanding’ for his midfield tactics.

He joined Travis Binnion’s Under-18s squad in 2021 and has been pretty unstoppable since, showing off his excellent vision and technique all over the field.

As one of the squad’s freshest additions, Kobbie is still a little ‘green’, and his salary reflects this…though he’s still grossing over £1 million quid a year…

Let’s see what that looks like when we run it through our PAYE template….

Tax thresholds	Annual	Monthly	Weekly	Daily
Gross	£1,040,000	£86,666.67	£20,000.00	£4,000.00
Taxable Income	£1,040,000	£86,666.67	£20,000.00	£4,000.00
Tax Due @ 20%	£7,540.00	£628.33	£145.00	£29.00
Tax Due @ 40%	£34,975.60	£2,914.63	£672.61	£134.52
Tax Due @ 45%	£411,687.00	£34,307.25	£7,917.06	£1,583.41
Total Tax Due	£454,203.00	£37,850.25	£8,734.68	£1,746.93
National Insurance	£22,810.60	£1,900.88	£438.67	£87.73
2024 Take Home	£562,986.40	£46,915.54	£10,826.65	£2,165.53