Premier League clubs accused of £470m tax evasion
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England’s top-flight football clubs have been accused of tax evasion on an industry-wide scale, with the Premier League alone accounting for £470m (€534m) in tax losses since 2015.
According to Tax Policy Associates, a non-profit consultancy founded by former Clifford Chance lawyer Dan Neidle, clubs in the top and lower leagues have avoided paying taxes to HM Revenue and Customs, the local body that takes care of the collection, through the construction of artificial contracts.
HMRC confirmed in a statement that it was investigating a “number of cases” but declined to go into further details.
The evasion mechanism
“Labour taxes and VAT on large commissions paid to football agents” are being avoided, said the report, released on Thursday. The Tax Policy Associates report focused on so-called dual representation, where football agents who represent players during contract and transfer negotiations are paid to act for both club and player. But labor taxes and VAT, despite the club usually paying half of agents’ fees, as is current practice, even if they are employees and work on behalf of the player, have been evaded. In cases where the same players paid their agent’s fee in full, they would have had to pay the correct amount of tax to HMRC.
The collection agency: We are looking into the case
HMRC itself has intervened on the matter. “We scrutinize arrangements between clubs and employees and work closely with the football industry to educate and address the tax risk head-on,” an HMRC spokesperson said in an emailed comment. “Since 2015, from all areas of football industry taxation, we have recovered £573m that otherwise would not have been paid.”
A Premier League spokesman said it was in regular talks with HMRC on agent fees and that clubs were “fully aware” of the latest tax rules relating to agent fees.
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