Revenue clampdown threatens part-time football clubs
HMRC to launch income tax clampdown
Semi-professional and junior league football clubs in Scotland are under
threat from a Revenue & Customs’ plan to backdate payments of PAYE and
National Insurance contributions to 2003.
This follows the decision to deduct income tax from part-time players via
their club, rather than let the players, some of whom take home just £10-a-week,
work out their own taxes as self-employed workers.
According to The Scotsman, the decision to backdate the payments
could cost some clubs as much as £6,000 each, threatening their survival.
Bill McDonald, general secretary of the East Region Junior League, said a
number of teams would struggle to pay their dues while Derek Waterson, president
of Midlothian East of Scotland league team Whitehill Welfare, said the decision
could have ‘dire consequences for the smaller teams in the leagues’