IPL Mega Auction 2024: Rishabh Pant's Take-Home Salary, What He'll Earn After Taxes From His ₹27 Crore IPL Deal
IPL Mega Auction 2024: Rishabh Pant’s Salary and Take-Home After Taxes
The performance and resilience shown by the wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant have fetched a record-breaking IPL 2024 Mega Auction contract to be sealed by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) with a whopping ₹27 crore for the wicketkeeper-batter. Pant's journey to becoming the costliest IPL player in history has been quite something, after all he was a car accident survivor who nearly lost his life in 2022. Despite battling many challenges strongly, Pant is going to lead LSG through the IPL 2025 beginning on March 14.
The amount seems monolithic, but the question is: how much of this ₹27 crore will reach Pant's pocket after tax? Let's break it down.
Pant's Tax Burden
The ₹ 27 crores that Pant won in the auction is distributed over a three-year deal with LSG, making it not a single payment. The Indian government taxes IPL salaries based on a player's earnings, drawing the tax rate of around 30%. For Pant, this implies that the government will take out a major share of his contract value, considering the three years.
Consequently, Pant is expected to forfeit ₹8.1 crore in taxes on the total contractual amount. The deduction is in accordance with the general income tax norms applicable to Indian cricket players under the IPL. Thus, Pant's net salary post taxation will be ₹18.9 crore for the next three years.
What happens if Pant gets injured?
While injuries are part and parcel of professional sports, especially cricket, things are a bit complicated for Pant. In case he suffers an injury before or during the tournament, there are a couple of possibilities involved:
1. Contract and Payment Clauses: IPL contracts seem to have a clause for players who get injured either before or during the tournament. Still, there are instances where these clauses are negotiable and at the mercy of the franchise. Now, if Pant gets hurt and is out for the season, it is questionable if he will fetch his entire ₹27 crore or reduced. Some franchises might try to honor their full contract, while others might make some deductions based on the participation of the player.
2. Loss of Match Fees: Even if Pant misses part of the season due to injury, the loss would be huge in terms of match fees and bonuses. He will earn per match fees on top of his contract with various IPL franchises. If he is expected to play all the games, the losses are accrued. The performance-based incentives like bonus and sponsorship deals also go to waste for missing matches.
At ₹27 crore, Rishabh Pant's IPL salary is undoubtedly one of great talent and perseverance. However, with tax deducted, he is expected to net around ₹18.9 crore over three seasons. Injuries or non-participation in the tournament will soon catch up with him. This time, besides the match fees, performance incentives stand to be jeopardized. Pant will look to recover fully to make the most of his lucrative contract, which will give him a good chance to get back to top-flight cricket going into the tournament.