A freedom from information request has revealed that football clubs from the Premier League, Football League and Conference owed the taxman £22m in PAYE, NI and VAT at the end of the last tax year. Premier League clubs accounted for 65 per cent of football total tax debt while clubs in the Championship made up 29 per cent of the total. League One, League 2 and the Conference each accounted for 2 per cent of the remaining debt.
A freedom from information request has revealed that football clubs from the Premier League, Football League and Conference owed the taxman £22m in PAYE, NI and VAT at the end of the last tax year. Premier League clubs accounted for 65 per cent of football total tax debt while clubs in the Championship made up 29 per cent of the total. League One, League 2 and the Conference each accounted for 2 per cent of the remaining debt.
The average top flight club owed £720,355 while the average Championship club owed £267,182. Average sums in the other three leagues were much smaller.
Revenue and Customs has been taking a tougher line with clubs that get behind with their debts. They issued 40 petitions against companies that own clubs in the last tax year and sought 19 winding up petitions in 2010.