Luke Littler hit with £164k blow after Premier League Darts triumph | Other | Sport

Luke Littler has been landed with a huge £164,500 estimated tax bill after winning the 2026 Premier League Darts. The young prodigy beat Luke Humphries in the final, 11-10. The teenager earned £350,000 prize money while Humphries claimed £170,000. The ‘Nuke’ sits well within the top tax threshold, however. HMRC classifies professional prize money earned by sportspeople as taxable income, meaning the darts sensation’s earnings will take a considerable blow, as it did when he won the UK Open in March.

Because Littler is already earning well over the threshold for the highest UK tax brackets, his £350,000 will be taxed at his highest marginal rate. Approximately 45 per cent is expected to be removed as an Income Tax payment, taking a whopping £157,000 off Littler right away. Additionally, a further two per cent of National Insurance contributions will likely need to be settled, and although this remains an estimate, it could be around £7,000, meaning he will be handing over nearly half of his jackpot prize.

That figure excludes any management fees or travel expenses, which are tax-deductible but could further diminish his actual take-home pay.

The 45 per cent additional rate threshold kicks in on earnings exceeding £125,140 in the UK. Therefore, it’s calculated that every pound Littler makes for the rest of this year will be subject to this rate.

Nevertheless, to help combat this, Littler has established his own limited company to help mitigate the tax burden, as darts professionals operate as self-employed contractors.

It’s worth noting that HMRC doesn’t tax professional darts players just on their gross prize money. They are taxed on their profits and Littler can offset a portion of that tax bill by claiming allowable business expenses such as travel and accommodation for tournaments as well as management and agent fees.

The finals took place at the O2 in London on Thursday, with the top four battling it out for the top prize. Littler emerged a 10-9 victor over Gerwyn Price in his semi-final, while Humphries beat Jonny Clayton by the same scoreline.

Speaking to Sky Sports after seeing off his great rival and lifting the trophy, an emotional Littler said: “It’s been a rollercoaster, the first four weeks, bottom of the table, and then the fifth night, I won my first night.

“I had to pick myself up, some tough times, I went to Brighton, I had a 79 average or something and it was tough, I was down bad, but yeah, I’m here with the trophy.”

After composing himself, Littler added: “After Brighton and the incident in Manchester (with Gian van Veen), I was sat at home saying to Faith (Millar, his partner), ‘I don’t want to do it anymore, just the crowd every week’. I said to her ‘I’m down bad.'”