In the last tax year, HMRC opened investigations into 12 clubs, 90 players and 16 agents, resulting in a 30% hike in the amount of tax recovered. The concerted action raised an additional £90m, up from £67.5m in 2023-24, revealed figures from UHY Hacker Young, the national accountancy group.

One of the latest targets of the heightened investigation activity has focused on the use of R&D tax breaks by football clubs. HMRC is closely scrutinising valuable R&D tax claims filed by football clubs.