With his January transfer to the English club Bournemouth, Alex Tóth became the most expensive player ever to leave Hungary’s top league (NB I), bringing 12 million euros (+3 million euros in potential bonuses) to his former club, Ferencváros. The spectacular move of the 20-year-old player to the English side has once again sparked discussion about the dream salaries earned by Hungarian footballers playing in top international leagues.
Although no public data has been released about Alex’s salary, it is known that our most successful fellow Hungarian, Dominik Szoboszlai, who also plays in England, may earn 7.8 million pounds per year including bonuses, which corresponds to roughly HUF 3.4 billion. Similar players at Alex’s level to Alex at Bournemouth can also easily earn around HUF 1.1 billion per year.
Bournemouth proved to be an excellent stepping stone for Milos Kerkez, who transferred to Liverpool in the summer of 2025 for an estimated £40 million transfer fee, according to the British press, and signed a contract running until 2030. The club does not publish his salary, but based on estimates by Capology, his base salary for the 2025–26 season may be around £3.9 million per year, excluding bonuses.
These salaries are astronomical not only for the average person but may even seem dreamlike for top players in Hungarian domestic clubs. In Hungary’s top league, the NB I, the highest-earning footballers are estimated to earn around HUF 350 million gross per year, which is roughly a third of Alex Tóth’s estimated salary in England.
However, it is worth looking more closely at the numbers to see how the different tax systems of the two countries may affect this significant difference. In this regard, Dr. Balázs Horváth, board member and international tax expert at SQN Trust Bizalmi Vagyonkezelő Zrt., provides insight.
According to Dr. Horváth, it is important to note that the Hungarian state supports the competitiveness of domestic football through the tax system as well, effectively making Hungary a kind of “tax haven” for footballers. The law allows athletes to use the simplified public burden contribution (EKHO) up to an annual income limit of HUF 500 million, resulting in a total tax burden of only 15%.
In contrast, footballers in England are taxed under the same conditions as any other employee, and the personal income tax system is progressive. The highest tax bracket – applicable to income above £125,000 per year, which covers the majority of the income of players at Alex Tóth’s level – is taxed at 45%.
To illustrate with a concrete example: from a gross annual salary of HUF 350 million, one of the highest-paid players in the Hungarian NB I can retain almost HUF 300 million net after taxes. By comparison, from a gross annual salary of HUF 1 billion, a player at Alex Tóth’s level in England would retain only about HUF 540 million after taxes and social security contributions.
While the difference between Hungarian and English gross salaries is almost threefold, the difference in net income is only about 1.8 times, due to the differing tax systems. If differences in housing and living costs are also taken into account, it can be concluded that although Alex Tóth’s transfer to the English Premier League represents a significant career advancement, the dramatic increase in his salary is not quite as striking as it may appear at first glance.
Similar to England, in most European countries 40–50% of footballers’ gross salaries are deducted as personal income tax. Besides Hungary, Monaco and the Czech Republic are also countries where footballers can benefit from significant tax advantages, Dr. Horváth noted.
It is also important to recognize that the OECD itself recommends treating athletes’ income – often reaching astronomical levels – as a separate category of income. Accordingly, unlike the general rule, not only the athlete’s country of tax residence has the right to tax such income, but also the source country, meaning the country where the sporting activity generating the income actually takes place.
This means that regardless of whether a given athlete – such as a Hungarian footballer – has tax residency in England, if he plays for a club there, the income earned from that activity will be taxable in the United Kingdom. The same principle applies when an athlete participates in competitions or tournaments where prize money may be awarded.
A great example is the Australian Open, which concluded on February 1. In the tournament’s 28-year history, 2026 saw the highest prize money ever awarded: the champions, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, each received AUD 4,150,000, while the total prize pool reached AUD 115,000,000. However, the joy of victory may have been somewhat reduced by the fact that the applicable withholding tax could reach 30-45%.
Whether earned domestically under favourable taxation or in Europe’s elite clubs after higher tax rates are deducted, these salaries still allow footballers to maintain a high standard of living while also enabling substantial savings and investments, thereby securing their financial future after their active careers.
As Tibor Billwachs, board member and investment expert at SQN Trust Bizalmi Vagyonkezelő Zrt., added: if a player with a net annual salary of HUF 500 million saves half of it for three years and invests it in retail government bonds with a 7% yield, the investment could generate HUF 52 million in annual interest income. Naturally, when managing assets of this size, it is advisable to adopt a comprehensive investment strategy, tailored to the owner’s needs and appropriately diversified across geographies and asset classes to manage risk effectively.
