Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli is still in it while proving once again that he is one of the most important players for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL. Kohli is performing better with every passing minute, and his earnings grow with every passing year. The Indian superstar started with only ₹12 lakh as salary with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008, but over the years, had tiny to continuous jumps of ₹8.28 crore (2011-13), ₹12.5 crore (2014-17), and ₹17 crore (2018-21). Nonetheless, taxes do a lot of damage to the salary. According to Taxology India, it went down from ₹15 crore between 2022-24 to ₹21 crore after a whopping 40% increase in salary in the current season. In total IPL seasons, he has earned ₹179.70 crores. At Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he stays the highest-paid player, with Hazlewood and Bhuvi maybe more than ₹12.50 crore and ₹10.75 crore respectively. Yet, despite a huge ₹21 crore contract, taxes really cut down on his take-home. The minimum price for auction is ₹30 lakh, which is the amount RCB paid for acquiring four players: Swastik Chikara, Manoj Bhandage, Abhinandan Singh, and Mohit Rathee. Also Read: Head Coach Stephen Fleming hints at CSK's XI ahead of RCB clash Why Does Virat Kohli Earn Less Than ₹13 Crore? Players are pushed into the highest tax bracket because of the fact that the earnings of the IPL are perceived as business incomes under Section 28 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Base Tax: 30% on income above ₹15 lakh = ₹6.3 crore Surcharge: 25% for earnings over ₹5 crore = ₹1.575 crore Cess: 4% of the total tax amount = ₹31 lakh This means Kohli will pay a total tax of ₹8.19 crore. His IPL 2025 revenue, thus, sums up to around ₹12.81 crore net of deductions; in contrast, it is hugely lesser than his contract value.