HMRC sought winding up petitions against 19 clubs in 2010, including Sheffield Wednesday, Notts County, Preston, Portsmouth, Southend United, Accrington Stanley, AFC Bournemouth, Bishop Stortford, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Chester City, Crawley, Dorchester Town, Forest Green Rovers, Hinckley United, Ilkeston Town, Lewes, Plymouth Argyle and Welling United.
As many regular readers will know HMRC are losing patience with the football creditors rule that allows those in admin to pay players and other clubs in full before anyone else gets a look in. Normally in business the practice of paying preferential creditors is a matter for the courts unless VAT and PAYE are involved.
£22m tax debt for football at financial year end
Football clubs from the Premier League and Football League owed the taxman £22m in “simple” taxes – PAYE, NI, and VAT - at the end of last tax year, April 2010, according to findings from a Freedom of Information request by Sporting Intelligence. The Premier League’s 20 clubs owed £14.4m between them while the Football League’s 72 clubs owed £7.4m. According to Sporting Intelligence HMRC also served winding-up petitions against 19 clubs in 2010.