Financial news

The word is that the Board want to "freeze wages" for next season. The club are asking supporters to help with money to "Boost the Budget." They did use the word COMPLIMENT but they meant COMPLEMENT. They are two different words. The first means to praise, the second means to add to...

Actually I think most of the Merthyr players, as many at other clubs at our level,   are "non-contract" and  therefore cannot be  paid wages as such, only legitimate agreed expenses, but these can still be subject to tax, of course. Check out the details on payment for non- contract footballers online, as I did today. It gives a full explanatiion.

Non-contract players can be reimbursed for travellng and other out of pocket expenses. There is no tax or NI to pay in such cases. The payments have to be agreed with the local HMRC office before payments are made. There are special tax provisions for non--contract players while contract players are considered employees of the club and come under the provisions of taxation. A non-contract player receiving a wage would be considered to be an employee of the club.

You are entirely wrong on both counts but I won't dignify your first comment with a resposne

You have read the headline without knowing the full facts which are fully explained in the HMRC Employment Income Manual 64145.

The 2nd and 3rd paragraphs explain the situation fully and those are the rules we follow in compliance with HMRC Employment rules which as Payroll Manager for the club I must follow.

With all due respect after working 42 years in Inland Revenue/HMRC I think I have a tad more knowledge than you at the operation of PAYE.  However you are welcome to take over the running of our payroll provided you sign an NDA and are also happy to accept any sanctions HMRC put upon you due to the maladministration of the Club's PAYE.

By the way, there are no such thing as a Local Office as they were all closed years ago.

EIM64145 - Tax treatment of Association footballers: payments to non- contract and amateur players
If a non-contract or amateur player receives no more than the reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred in travelling to matches (home or away), or cleaning and maintaining his kit, no tax liability arises. The principles relating to voluntary workers will apply (see EIM71100).

However, where a payment or series of payments to a non-contract or amateur player appears to include a clear element of remuneration, for example appearance money, you should consider whether there is an oral or implied contract that makes the player an employee of the club. The Employment Status Manual (ESM) provides guidance on the factors to be considered.

You will also need to consider whether the terms of engagement of the player are similar to those applying to contract players. Other matters, such as the obligations imposed on keeping fit, training, availability for selection, times of reporting for matches, taking of instructions from managers and other officials, discipline and club rules and regulations generally may also be of relevance. (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)

Previous page

Paragraphs 2 and 3 override Para 1.

This reminds me of what we used to say in the government department I used to work for:

"It says in the Code..."