Emma Raducanu is facing the prospect of losing almost half of the prize money she earned for reaching the HSBC Championships final at Queen's Club. The British star was defeated in straight sets by Donna Vekic on Sunday.
Raducanu's Tax Burden
Raducanu has found it difficult to recapture the form that saw her crowned US Open champion in 2021, yet she battled her way to only her third WTA final last week in west London. Without dropping a single set, she secured a showdown with lucky loser Vekic, only to fall 6-0, 7-6 (8-6).
Her endeavours were not entirely without reward, as she walked away with £136,210 for her performances at Queen's. However, tax expert Nicole Zalys, also known as The London Accountant, claims the 23-year-old will be forced to hand over nearly half of her winnings to the taxman.
Zalys said: "Assuming Emma is an additional rate taxpayer with other income exceeding £125,140, the applicable tax rate on her prize money will be 45 per cent. She is also likely to have Class 4 National Insurance to pay at two per cent on this income. Therefore, her total tax bill is an effective rate of 47 per cent."
"Emma is a classic example of someone with multiple revenue streams. Not only does she have her on-court winnings, she also receives money from lucrative brand deals, which go through a limited company, Harbour 6 Limited."
Applying this to the roughly £136k Raducanu earned at Queen's, her total tax liability will be £64,018, leaving her with an estimated take-home of £72,192.
Gratitude and Reflection
Following her defeat to Vekic, she took a moment to express her gratitude for the backing she received from her home crowd throughout the tournament, as she looks forward to competing as the British No. 1 at Wimbledon.
She said: "It's been an incredible week for me, making the final here, playing in my home city, in my home tournament. The support I have received all week has been incredible but I really want to take this opportunity to thank everyone. Today was a really tough match. Donna played extremely well from the start to the finish. So thanks for getting me through some tough moments this week and also for helping me push back in that second set."
Raducanu later added: "The performances I had this week, I played really well. I was able to play and dictate, and that is something I wasn't able to do [in the final]. I managed to get myself back into the second set, and I'm proud of how I fought. That is not something that in the past years I have always done, so that's a positive."
