Football Capital Gains Tax: 4-Year Rule Explained

Inside the Budget law there are also measures dedicated to sport, which range from increasing funding for the sports movement to the establishment of funds to support youth activity. Among these provisions, one of the most relevant from an economic and accounting point of view concerns the tax treatment of capital gains created by professional sports clubs. The reference is to paragraph 42 of article 1, which introduces a novelty destined to have direct effects on the clubs’ budgets, in particular in soccer.

The new regulation on capital gains

The law intervenes on the financial management of sports clubs: the capital gains arising from the transfer of athletes’ performance rights. With the new formulation, professional clubs will be able to choose whether to compete the entire capital gain to the income in the financial year in which it is realized or, under certain conditions, distribute it in constant odds on multiple exercises.

The possibility of installment is permitted when the rights to the transferred athlete have been held for at least two years. In this case, the capital gain can be spread over the financial year in which it is realized and subsequent ones, up to a maximum of four years in total. The choice is up to the companies and must be formalized during the tax return.

How the distribution over time works

The law clarifies that installments only concern the capital gain part proportionally referable to the amount received in cash. The possible residual amountlinked to other forms of compensation, continues to contribute fully to the formation of the income in the year in which the capital gain is realised.

In the absence of an explicit choice in the tax return, the general rule remains unchanged: the entire capital gain is taxed in the year in which it was accounted for. The rule, therefore, introduces a faculty and not an obligation, leaving companies to evaluate the most suitable solution for their economic and financial situation.

Since when the new rule applies

The provision applies to capital gains realized starting from 1 January 2026. This means that operations concluded in the winter transfer market of January 2026 also fall within the new perimeter, a detail that makes the measure immediately relevant for the market strategies of Italian sports clubs.

The rule is not limited to football alone, but concerns all professional sports clubs, regardless of the discipline practiced. However, it is in football that capital gains represent a particularly significant item in the balance sheets.

What is a capital gain in football

In football parlance, capital gain is the I earn that a club realizes from the sale of a player, calculated as the difference between the sale price and the residual value of the card recorded in the balance sheet. The latter depends on the initial purchase cost and the amortization plan.

If a club buys a player for 10 million euros with a five-year contract, the cost comes amortized in annual installments of 2 million. After three years, the residual value on the balance sheet will be equal to 4 million. If the player is sold for 20 million, the capital gain will be the difference between the sale price and the residual value, i.e. 16 million euros.

With the new legislation, if the player had been a member for at least two years, that capital gain can be distributed over several financial years, rather than affecting it all in a single year.

The role of capital gains in club balance sheets

For many sports clubs, especially those that do not have high structural revenues, capital gains represent an essential component of economic balance. The so-called player tradingi.e. the purchase, development and subsequent sale of athletes, is a widespread strategy in various European championships.

Over time, business models have been built based on this approach, managing to combine sporting results and financial sustainability. In Italy, the possibility of spreading capital gains over several years could offer greater stability to the accounts, mitigating the impact of market operations on operating results.