Exclusive: UK's largest football clubs owe £4m in deferred tax

The UK's largest football clubs currently owe the taxman nearly £4m in Time to Pay (TTP) agreements, Accountancy Age can reveal.

The Premier League and Championship clubs owe HM Revenue & Customs a total of £3,773,449 through the tax deferral scheme TTP, according to the results of a Freedom of Information request.

HMRC said the tax deferred by both Premier League and Championship clubs through TTP agreements totalled £6,007,481 since 6 April 2010.

Clubs owed HMRC £43.2m on 1 August 2010 for PAYE and VAT, a "snapshot" figure for that day. However, it said the amount owed could vary "significantly " on different days as payments are made or become due.

Clubs in the two leagues have continued spending but have reined in their transfer activity this year, according to the Grant Thornton Football Transfer Tracker.

Premier League clubs have spent £250.4m so far in this transfer window, compared to £449.4m last year across the whole window (of which biggest spending club Manchester City have spent £125.7m, compared to £117.5m a year earlier).

Championship clubs have spent £17.7m so far this summer, but have a net spend of -£12.2m. Last year the Championship spent £40.1m across the whole summer transfer window, with a net spend of -£61.1m.
Further reading:

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Sheffield Wednesday faces winding up order over tax bill

Firms on HMRC's Time to Pay approval panel revealed