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Former Manchester United and England captain Bryan Robson has lost his IR35 tax case against HMRC after court found he was a ‘disguised employee’ in his ambassadorial role at his former club.
Robson has been paid £150,000 every six months to be an ambassador of the Red Devils, a role he has held since 2008.
He has the obligation to make a minimum of 35 personal appearances at functions and events.
His personal services company, known as Bryan Robson Limited, issued an appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal after HMRC took the view he provided services to Manchester United in a way that reflected employment and not self-employment.
HMRC took the view that his tax bill belonged inside the scope of the IR35 legislation.
IR35 refers to legislation designed to ensure that workers who are essentially employees pay the same income tax and National Insurance contributions as direct employees.
It was noted that Robson was economically dependent on his former football team, which made up 87 per cent of his income (£171,000) in the 2019/20 tax year and 94 per cent of his income (£319,000) in the ‘20/21 tax year.
HMRC believe he should have paid his National Insurance contribution (NIC) and PAYE between December 2019 to April 2021.
However, that amount was not disclosed due to the fact HMRC included a separate income he received through image rights within its calculations.
Robson’s appeal against this decision went to the Tribunal last November, with a ruling issued on Tuesday that revealed his appeal failed.
This leaves Robson with a tax bill made up of employment taxes, depending on whether he tries to appeal this ruling to the Upper Tribunal or not.
Commenting on this case, Seb Maley, CEO of IR35 specialist Qdos, said that “this high profile HMRC win underscores the importance of ensuring compliance – whether you’re a freelancer, contractor or business engaging these workers.
“But make no mistake, this wasn’t your average freelancer and client relationship. Manchester United controlled many elements of this engagement – a hallmark of an employer-employee relationship.”
This comes as news according to talkSPORT that United ambassadors, including Robson, are set to have their salaries slashed, as the cost cutting continues at the Premier League club.
However, Robson is not the only celebrity or sports star to be caught up in the IR35 battle with the taxman. Just last August, former Sky Sports rugby commentator Stuart Barnes was stung by IR35 after a Tribunal overturned his appeal to pay a near £700,000 bill to HMRC.
While in December, Gary Lineker’s dispute over a £4.9m tax bill was back in court as HMRC aims to overturn a previous ruling in the Match of the Day presenter’s favour.
