The son of Jack Charlton claims he has been forced to give up his World Cup winners’ medal due to a £200,000 Inheritance Tax bill.
Jack Charlton, the older brother of fellow England legend Bobby, started at centre-back in England’s 4-2 win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final.
He died aged 85 in 2020 after suffering from lymphoma and dementia.
John Charlton received the 1966 World Cup medal as part of his father’s will, but he has left it with his 91-year-old mother, Pat, in order to avoid paying a huge sum in tax.
Get personalised football updates every day
Sign up to our daily football newsletter and choose your team to get the latest news, rumours and more direct to your inbox every morning.
‘Funny enough, me and Eddie [Howe] were talking about his medal,’ John said in an interview with talkSPORT.
‘I think there’s only him and my uncle Bobby who have kept their medals. Everybody else doesn’t have them anymore.’
Asked where his father’s medal is, John said: ‘I’ve got it.
‘Well, there’s a bit of a problem with it, actually. When I say I’ve got it, it was left to me in my dad’s will, but the tax man wants £200,000 off me in Inheritance Tax.’
In the UK, Inheritance Tax is a 40 per cent tax on the estate – money, property, and possessions – of someone who has died, but only applies to the portion that exceeds a standard tax-free threshold of £325,000.
In 2022, Alan Ball’s 1966 World Cup winners’ medal was sold at auction for £200,000.
Asked if he will have to sell the medal, John replied: ‘No, I’ve given it back to my mother because whilst she’s got it, I don’t have to pay that money.
‘There’s a journalist from the Daily Mirror who’s been working on it and helping us to try and sort it, but the same applies to Olympic gymnasts and people like that.
‘If they decide to sell their gold medals, they’re going to have to pay. Their family, sorry, pass it on, they’re going to have to pay Inheritance Tax on that. This is something that they’ve been trying to sort out.
‘I’ve got his shirt. Well, we’ve got his shirt as well. His shirt and his medal are in a safe place, tucked away.
‘And the England cap that he got because he only got one cap for the tournament and that’s the only cap that he left. He gave the rest away.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.