English Premier League clubs now paying £180m a year tax.

The tax burden includes corporation tax, PAYE, national insurance and VAT. The total reached £180m for the 1998/99 season compared to £152m in the previous year. Last season also saw significant rises in all taxes apart from corporation tax. Richard Baldwin, tax partner in Deloitte’s football industry team, estimated that in addition to the tax paid to the exchequer, the sport’s top clubs will invest more than £10m in supporting the lower league teams and the community. This, together with further taxes paid by way of business rates, brings the English Premier Clubs’ annual contribution to almost £200m. ‘Clubs are doing well, but so is the government,’ said Baldwin. ‘Professional football is doing more than its fair share, and this is set to increase. ‘The government could be putting more into football initiatives rather than expecting further investment from the top clubs.’