EIM68400 - Tax treatment of
professional cricketers: earnings: talent money and benefit
matches
The remuneration of professional cricketers and other
professional players, other than footballers (see
EIM64100 onwards), who serve under
contracts of employment may consist of:
- wages and, in some cases, talent money
and
- proceeds of a match arranged under the
terms of his agreement for the benefit of a player, usually at the
expiration of a number of years' service and subject to a minimum
payment guaranteed by a club (see, however, (a) below).
All these payments are chargeable to tax as employment income.
The following amounts are
not chargeable:
- proceeds of a benefit match received by a player not under the
terms of his agreement but on compassionate grounds, for example,
as compensation for permanent injuries
- proceeds of a public subscription or of a collection made at a
benefit match unless it is clear that the player has an entitlement
or expectancy so that such collections form part of the terms or
conditions of his employment. (See
EIM00630 onwards.)
Agreements between players and clubs are normally made yearly.
In cases of difficulty you should ask to see the relevant
documents. See also, in this connection, Reed v Seymour
(11TC625).
