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 [...]

Jan 21, 2025 - 19:00
Haaland: Man City striker could pay £150m to HMRC over new deal

Signing a lucrative contract, as Erling Haaland did with Manchester City this week, is usually one of the happiest days of someone's life.

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.