Virat Kohli pays three times more tax than costliest IPL star's price, double than Dhoni: 6 cricketers feature in list

Former Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli was the highest-taxpaying sportsperson in the country in the financial year 2023-24, according to a list released by Fortune India. The report claimed Kohli, one of the top sporting icons of India, paid ₹66 crore in FY24. The amount is roughly three times more than the selling price of IPL's costliest player, Mitchell Starc ( ₹24.75 crore). Virat Kohli pays three times more tax than costliest IPL star's price, double than Dhoni: 5 cricketers feature in list

Overall, he ranked fifth among celebrity taxpayers, following actors Shah Rukh Khan ( ₹92 crore), Vijay ( ₹80 crore), Salman Khan ( ₹75), and Amitabh Bachchan (71 crore).

Kohli, who is currently on a break from cricketing duties after playing in the ODI series against Sri Lanka last month, was way ahead of other sporting personalities on India's list of highest-tax-paying celebrities.

The next best sporting icon on the list was the legendary MS Dhoni. The two-time World Cup-winning former India skipper paid ₹38 crore in the last financial year to claim the seventh spot. Dhoni, despite retiring from international cricket in 2020, continues to be one of the highest-earning Indian sportspersons. He now only features in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Chennai Super Kings. There is, however, no clarity yet on his participation in the next season.

After Kohli and Dhoni, Mast Blaster Sachin Tendulkar is the only other Indian sportsperson to feature in the top 10 of the highest taxpayers' list. The legendary cricketer, who still holds the records for scoring the most runs in ODIs and Tests, the most centuries in both formats and is the world's only cricketer to play 200 Test matches, paid a total sum of ₹28 crore as tax in FY24.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who also served as the BCCI president not too long is 12th on the list. Ganguly paid ₹23 core as taxes.

The list also features current Indian team stars Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant. All-rounder Hardik paid tax worth ₹13 crore while wicketkeeper-batter Pant, who is eyeing to make a Test comeback after a long injury layoff, paid ₹10 crore as taxes.

Full list of highest taxpaying Indian celebrities

Shah Rukh Khan- ₹92 crore

'Talapathy' Vijay- ₹80 crore

Salman Khan- ₹75 crore

Amitabh Bachchan- ₹71 crore

Virat Kohli- ₹66 crore

Ajay Devgn- ₹42 crore

Mahendra Singh Dhoni- ₹38 crore

Ranbir Kapoor- ₹36 crore

Sachin Tendulkar- ₹28 crore

Hrithik Roshan- ₹28 crore

Kapil Sharma- ₹26 crore

Sourav Ganguly- ₹23 crore

Kareena Kapoor- ₹20 crore

Shahid Kapoor- ₹14 crore

Mohanlal- ₹14 crore

Allu Arjun- ₹14 crore

Hardik Pandya- ₹13 crore

Kiara Advani- ₹12 crore

Katrina Kaif- ₹11 crore

Pankaj Tripathi- ₹11 crore

Amir Khan- ₹10 crore

Rishabh Pant- ₹10 crore

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