Newcastle United’s current ownership group has spent the summer trying to come up with transfer business, but a legacy issue from the Mike Ashley era has now surfaced and could take some of their attention.
According to The Guardian, Newcastle have been hit with a £3.2million demand from HM Revenue and Customs over a “deliberate” failure to pay tax. The report states that the club owes £1.9million in tax and has also been handed a £1.25million penalty.
“Newcastle United have been hit with a demand
for £3.2m from HM Revenue and Customs over a ‘deliberate’ failure to pay tax,” The Guardian reported.
The issue relates to a nearly-decade-long investigation into player transfers under Ashley, who owned Newcastle before the Saudi-led takeover in 2021.
The Guardian reported that the demand appeared in HMRC’s latest published list of “deliberate tax defaulters,” with Newcastle placed at the top of the list released Thursday.
A spokesperson for St James Holdings Ltd, speaking on behalf of Ashley, said HMRC dropped its criminal investigation before any charges were brought.
“There was no finding of deliberate conduct by a Court or Tribunal and no admission of deliberate conduct was made to HMRC,” the spokesperson said.
The fine is understood to be linked to Operation Loom, the tax probe that led HMRC officers to raid St James’ Park in 2017. Court papers at the time said the raid related to allegations that Newcastle “systemically abused” the tax system in player purchases.
