Haaland: Man City striker could pay £150m to HMRC over new deal
Signing a lucrative contract, as Erling Haaland did with Manchester City this month, is usually one of the happiest days of someone’s life.
Haaland has signed for nearly a decade in a deal that is reportedly worth £26m a year before bonuses.
But the reality is that the taxman is coming, and for the Norway international striker it is going to be a hefty bill.
Because audit, accounting and consulting firm Forvis Mazars have broken down what Haaland could end up shipping before his take-home wage.
It amounts to over £16m a year in total to HMRC, which over his nine-and-a-half contract would equate to £152m.
| Total to HMRC | £16,237,000 |
| Income tax | £11,686,000 |
| Employee NIC | £522,000 |
| Employer NIC | £3,899,000 |
| Apprenticeship Levy | £130,000 |
Haaland tax nightmare
Ian Goodwin of Forvis Mazars said: “Even by the Premier League’s standards Erling Haaland’s reported new contract is significant at a reported £500,000 per week. After the man himself and Manchester City Football Club, perhaps the biggest winner is the taxman, assuming this is paid as a regular monthly “salary”.
“HMRC could be set to rake in a whopping £12.2m a year from Haaland’s income tax and National Insurance alone. Not to mention the £3.8m from Manchester City in employer’s National Insurance.
“Extending this to a more typical scenario, taking £26m as an annual pay bill for a company and assuming a UK average salary applies of £36k, this would be the equivalent of employing 722 people.
“In this scenario, the increasing NIC costs from April 2025 will take the employer NIC bill from £2.68m to £3.36m – an increase of £677,000
“This goes to show the challenges facing businesses from April. Businesses need to think carefully and and in a timely manner put plans in place to afford the increases coming in wage bills.”
Haaland’s nine-and-a-half-year deal is a huge vote of confidence in Manchester City and manager Pep Guardiola, who are currently facing 115 charges, lodged by the Premier League, relating to financial transactions and blocking justice.