A fresh warning has been issued to all clubs in relation to their Transfer activity to ensure that all transfers are as transparent as required. A fresh probe is being undertaken into football and financial transactions in recent weeks. There is a lack of trust in some of the recent transfer dealing with accusations that some of the details from deals may not have been disclosed in full.
Fresh allegations
The current probe follows up from recent raids carried out on a number of high profile clubs at the start of the year, due to suspected tax and social insurance frauds being carried out by the clubs.
HM Revenue and Customs HMRC have not disclosed which clubs are currently under investigation and has reiterated their warning to all clubs that full transparency is both expected and required at all times. Any situation that is found to be irregular will be investigated to the full and if any wrongdoing is proven there is likely to be consequences for the parties involved.
The English FA for their part has declined to make any comment on the latest round of investigations. The inquiries are part of a larger European wide investigation into transfer dealings as a whole. As the money is becoming larger and larger in both terms of transfer fees and wages, there is a belief that some players, clubs and agents have been working together to work around the regulations, and in doing so avoid large tax bills.
Spanish cases
In Spain, there have been a number of high profile cases brought to court involving many high profile players and managers in relation to unpaid taxes. Cases involving Ronaldo and Messi have made the headlines. Some of the cases have been proven to have been with substance while others have been settled out of court.
The cases in some instances have found undeclared tax and underpaid tax bills going back a number of years. The complex systems that are being used in some cases make it unclear where the taxes should be paid and if the bills have been settled or not.
The situation in the UK
At the moment no such high profile cases have been brought before the courts to date.
As the investigation continues more findings are likely to be made public. Whether any of the clubs have any case to answer as of yet remains to be seen. The investigation is also part of a larger crackdown on schemes and operations that have been used to avoid taxes in the past. One thing is for sure, this is a topic that appears to be gathering more attention at the moment and is likely to continue into the future.
