HMRC’s football crackdown raises £67.5m

HMRC’s tax crackdown on football has continued with £67.5m in extra tax recovered from tax investigations into clubs players and agents in the last year according to data obtained by UHY Hacker Young through a freedom of information request.

In the year ending 31 March 2024 HMRC opened investigations into 20 football clubs 83 football players and 21 football agents. More than £384m in unpaid taxes has been collected as a part of these crackdowns in the last five years.

The football industry has long been the subject of tax investigations both in the UK and abroad. One of main targets of current investigations is what HMRC considers to be tax avoidance related to agents’ fees.

In May 2024 HMRC published new guidelines aimed at stamping out tax evasion through what are known as ‘dual-representation contracts’. It believes these arrangements...