Manchester City Should Face Criminal Tax Probe, Experts Claim

Manchester City should undergo a criminal investigation concerning an estimated £12 million in unpaid taxes, according to a report by Tax Policy Associates (TPA).

The report suggests that with added interest and penalties, the Abu Dhabi-owned club could face a total bill of up to £24 million. These findings, which focus on payments made to former manager Roberto Mancini, add to existing scrutiny following the club's recent finding of financial cheating by an independent commission.

Dan Neidle, founder of TPA, stated, "We've examined the decision and leaked Mancini documents. We think City likely failed to pay £12 million in tax. There should be a criminal investigation."

The TPA report analyzes the commission's findings that a key individual, identified in leaked documents as then-manager Roberto Mancini, received payments through what was described as a "sham" consultancy.

According to the report, this arrangement in reality constituted Mancini's employment by City. Therefore, the club "should therefore have applied UK PAYE income tax in the usual way," the report stated. The evidence presented suggests the club "unlawfully failed to do so."

It remains unknown whether HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has initiated an investigation or resolved the matter. The report notes that no settlement payments related to this issue have appeared in Manchester City's accounts.

"The highly irregular nature of the arrangement, and the commission’s findings of sham and intentional concealment, suggest to us that there should be a criminal investigation into whether tax evasion offences were committed," TPA concluded.

The report further indicated that the commission's findings regarding City's filing of false accounts also point to the possibility that "criminal offences may have been committed."

At the core of the TPA's claims are payments of £1.75 million annually to Mancini, reportedly for coaching services in Abu Dhabi, in addition to his £1.45 million-per-season salary as Manchester City manager.

"Mr Mancini was, we assume, fully taxed on his income under his main contract with Manchester City," the report detailed. "The club will have applied PAYE to deduct income tax and employee National Insurance from his wages, and paid employer National Insurance on his gross wages.

"The position for Mr Mancini’s consultancy agreement should have been the same.

"You can’t magically make a salary untaxed by calling it a consultancy fee. If the payments were really for Mr Mancini’s work at Manchester City, they were employment earnings and should have been taxed accordingly."

The report also clarified, "We are not suggesting that any specific individuals at Manchester City, or indeed Mr Mancini, committed an offence. We do not know."

HMRC has declined to comment on the matter. Manchester City had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.