Rory McIlroy could lose €20 million following Masters win

Irish Daily Mirror

14-05-2025

2025 has already been one of the best years of Rory McIlroy's incredible career.
It's only May and the Northern Irishman has three wins to his name including a historic victory at Augusta National last month, a win that clinched the career Grand Slam.
He has taken home a hefty chunk of change for those three wins and will be looking to add to his season' winnings when he tees it up at the PGA Championship this week.
But with those wins comes a hidden cost. The taxman is lurking around the corner and this year, it is expected that McIlroy will be stung with a gigantic bill.
Research indicates that McIlroy, who is thought to be on course to earning more than €90 million this year, will be hit by a staggering tax bill at the end of the year.
'With Rory McIlroy, we're talking about a player who will be earning north of €60 million annually. That of course is across his prize money and his endorsements," Dr. Wilson, a professor of Applied Sport Finance at Sheffield Hallam University told OLBG
'This year, you're looking at a potential €90 million a year given his recent success at the Masters. The PGA Championship alone offers around €3 million ($3.5m) for the winner but as we know the tax implications depend very much on the jurisdiction so where the tax earnings are situated in the world.
'So let's just take Rory as a Northern Irish resident, he'll be subject to UK tax. On any worldwide income that will be up to 45%.
'When he competes in the US, he's also liable for US federal and state taxes, though he can claim tax relief under the existing UK US tax treaty. It's interesting to see whether that will continue under President Trump.
'Overall, I would suggest he's probably losing somewhere between 40-50% of his gross playing income to tax depending on where that's earned.
'Obviously you need to deduct all of his expenses and they're to be significant because of the lifestyle of a golfer, travel, accommodation, all that stuff is going to come off a lot of those figures.
'Say we take that €60 million annually, he's not going to lose €30 million of that, but he'll lose a heavy proportion, perhaps €20 million in tax.
'Critically though, his corporate structures and image rights vehicles will be optimised of course to defer and reduce some of those liabilities. So it's difficult to put a headline rate on it for you.
'Around 40-50% is what you would expect to pay, but the corporate structures will reduce that. It'll be a heavy tax bill I would imagine, but you can only pay tax if you've earned the money.'
While the taxman will be rubbing his hands together, McIlroy is solely focused on adding to his haul for the season.
Last month's win ended an 11-year major drought, and with the PGA Championship being played at Quail Hollow, a venue which Rory has won at multiple times, he has a genuine chance of winning his second major of the year.