Tax on world chess champ Gukesh’s prize money exceeds MS Dhoni's IPL 2025 salary

Gukesh D, 18, becomes youngest world chess champion, earning Rs 11.34 crore, but faces Rs 4.67 crore tax burden.

New Delhi: Gukesh D, the 18-year-old Indian chess prodigy, recently made history by becoming the youngest-ever world chess champion. His remarkable victory against China's Ding Liren in Singapore has brought him global fame and was lauded by many prominent personalities in India and beyond.

Apart from the win, Gukesh also got earnings of Rs 11.34 crore from the World Chess Championship. However, this amount comes with a hefty tax burden of Rs 4.67 crore, surpassing even MS Dhoni's IPL 2025 salary of Rs 4 crore. This significant tax liability is due to India's income tax laws, which tax incomes exceeding Rs 15 lakh at 30% and impose an additional surcharge of up to 37% on earnings over Rs 5 crore.

Gukesh's prize money includes Rs 5.04 crore from his wins in three matches, with the remaining amount split from the total prize pool of Rs 21 crore as per FIDE regulations. Despite his newfound wealth, Gukesh remains humble, stating that chess was never about money.

In fact, Gukesh's family had to make significant sacrifices to support his chess career as his parents faced financial and emotional hardships.

“When I got into chess, we (as a family) had to make some hard decisions. My parents had gone through financial and emotional hardships. Now, we are more comfortable and parents don’t need to think about those things.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has also announced a Rs 5 crore reward for Gukesh's historic achievement.