93 footballers, nine clubs, and 23 agents to be investigated over £56m of unpaid tax

A total of 93 footballers and nine clubs, and 23 agents face being investigated over nearly £56million in unpaid tax.

The Inland Revenue targets football clubs for £45m in missing tax, with players owing £5.8m and agents a further £4.8m in the last year.

HMRC is gearing up for a major clampdown on players’ image rights and the fees paid to agents over player transfers. And they have released the figures to top UK accountancy group UHY Hacker Young.

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Company partner Elliott Buss said: “HMRC sees the football industry as an area where there is a great deal of unpaid tax owed by high earners.
“HMRC has identified £55.6m in unpaid tax from the football industry.

“Targeting agents’ fees is a signal they think this is an area where too much tax is underpaid.”

On the issue of players’ image rights, Buss added: “It is understandable the likes of Marcus Rashford or Harry Kane would utilize a company to sell their ‘image.’

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“But players with near to no brand recognition use image rights to avoid paying tax.”