A US Open singles champion who banks the $5 million winner’s check in 2025 keeps roughly $2 to $2.5 million of it. Federal income tax, self-employment tax, New York State tax, agent commissions, and season expenses each take a bite, and foreign players lose 30% to federal withholding before the money ever leaves the tournament. That is the short answer on US Open prize money after tax; the rest of this article walks through where each dollar goes.
What the 2025 Purse Actually Paid
The 2025 US Open lifted total player compensation to $90 million, up from $75 million the year before. Singles paid out as follows, per player, before any withholding:
- Winner: $5,000,000
- Runner-up: $2,500,000
- Semifinalists: $1,260,000
- Quarterfinalists: $660,000
- Round of 16: $400,000
- Round of 32: $237,000
- Round of 64: $154,000
- Round of 128: $110,000
Even a first-round loss paid $110,000. Doubles champions collected $1 million per team, runners-up $500,000, and semifinalists $250,000.1US Open. US Open – Prize Money Every figure above is gross.
Federal Income Tax for American Players
Prize money is ordinary income and taxed at graduated rates. For 2026, the top federal bracket is 37% on taxable income above $640,600 for a single filer.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 A $5 million check clears that threshold on its first day, so almost the whole prize is taxed at 37%. The effective rate lands a touch lower because the first dollars flow through lower brackets, but at these income levels the difference is small.
Players receive Form 1099-NEC reporting the prize as nonemployee compensation.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation That classification carries a second tax layer most employees never see.
Self-Employment Tax
Professional players are independent contractors, so they owe both the employer and employee shares of Social Security and Medicare. The combined rate is 15.3%, split into two pieces:
- Social Security at 12.4%, applied only to the first $184,500 of net self-employment earnings in 2026.4Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
- Medicare at 2.9%, with no cap.
High earners also owe an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on self-employment income above $200,000.5Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates For a $5 million winner, that surcharge applies to nearly the whole prize. Half of the total self-employment tax is deductible against gross income,6Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) but the champion’s self-employment tax alone can still top $170,000.
New York State and City Tax
The tournament is played in Flushing, Queens, so every dollar of prize money counts as New York-source income. Team-sport athletes get their salaries prorated across states based on where they practice and play. Tennis players don’t. The full event prize is allocated to the host state, with no formula to soften it.
New York’s top marginal rate now reaches 10.9%. A $5 million check faces rates in the 9.65% to 10.3% range on most of the money, and the state tax bill on the winner’s prize can approach $500,000. The older 8.82% top rate still cited in some athlete-tax pieces has been outdated for several years.
Nonresident players file a New York nonresident return and pay state tax on the income earned while competing there. Players who live in New York City owe city income tax on top, which tops out at 3.876% and can add roughly another $190,000 to the champion’s bill. Players who live outside the city but inside the state skip that piece.
How Foreign Players Are Taxed
The 30% Withholding
Nonresident aliens face a flat 30% federal withholding on gross prize money, taken at the source.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1441 – Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens On the $5 million champion’s check, $1.5 million goes straight to the Treasury. There is no deduction for expenses at the withholding stage, which makes the effective bite harshest for players carrying heavy coaching and travel costs. Foreign players also owe New York State tax on their US Open earnings.
Central Withholding Agreements
The 30% flat rate is a blunt instrument, and the IRS offers a route around it. A nonresident athlete can apply for a Central Withholding Agreement, which computes withholding on net income after real expenses instead of gross receipts. A player who spent $1 million on coaching, travel, and equipment can have that reflected in the withholding rate rather than chasing it back on a refund.8Internal Revenue Service. Overview of the Central Withholding Agreement Program
The application must reach the IRS at least 45 days before the first event covered. Late applications are denied automatically.9Internal Revenue Service. Help for Foreign Artists and Athletes The player must also have all prior U.S. returns filed and any balances paid, and a designated withholding agent must sign the agreement alongside the player and the IRS.
Treaties and Foreign Tax Credits
Most foreign players avoid being taxed in full by both the U.S. and their home country. Bilateral tax treaties can lower the U.S. withholding rate or exempt income when a player spends fewer than a set number of days in the country; the specifics vary by treaty. Separately, the Foreign Tax Credit lets a player offset U.S. tax paid against home-country tax on the same income.10Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Tax Credit The credit doesn’t erase the tax; it just makes sure the player effectively pays the higher of the two rates rather than both stacked.
Business Expenses That Cut the Bill
Gross prize money overstates what the government taxes because players deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses on Schedule C. The main categories:
- Coaching and training, including salaries for coaches, trainers, and physiotherapists, plus gym fees
- Season travel: flights, hotels, and ground transportation, with meals partially deductible
- Agent and management commissions, which in tennis commonly run around 10%
- Equipment such as rackets, strings, shoes, and competition apparel
- Self-employed health insurance premiums and sport-specific disability coverage
A top player might spend $500,000 to $1 million a year on these costs. Deducting them lowers the income subject to both federal tax and self-employment tax, which is why the effective rate ends up lower than a straight stack of marginal rates suggests.
What the Champion Actually Keeps
The exact take-home depends on total annual income, filing status, home state, business expenses, and citizenship. For an American singles champion collecting $5 million, the rough sketch looks like this:
- Federal income tax: roughly $1.4 to $1.5 million at the 37% top rate, softened by lower brackets and deductions11Internal Revenue Service. Federal Income Tax Rates and Brackets
- Self-employment tax: about $170,000 to $190,000
- New York State tax: roughly $400,000 to $500,000
- Agent commission at about 10%: around $500,000
- Coaching, travel, and other business costs: commonly $200,000 to $500,000 or more at the top level
That leaves a realistic take-home in the neighborhood of $2 million to $2.5 million on the $5 million check. A New York City resident loses roughly another $190,000 to city tax. A foreign player without a Central Withholding Agreement starts with $1.5 million withheld federally, owes New York State on top, and then settles up with the home country net of any treaty relief or Foreign Tax Credit.
The same math scales down. A first-round loser collecting $110,000 might net $55,000 to $65,000 after taxes and fees, which for some lower-ranked players barely covers the cost of showing up. The purse keeps growing; so does the stack of taxes on top of it.