No let-up in HMRC football pursuits

News that Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric, former manager and owner of Portsmouth FC respectively, will face trial in January over allegations they attempted to defraud HM Revenue and Customs will cast a long shadow within the football business in what is shaping up to be a landmark year for the game’s relationship with tax authorities.

Unlike Rangers on-going HMRC case, which is a mere tribunal that will decide if a liability demand is valid, Radknapp and Mandaric face criminal charges.  Redknapp is one of England’s most popular sporting figures but no more so than former jockey, Lester Piggott, who received a three year jail sentence for tax evasion in 1987.

High profile wins, at Crown Court or a First Tier Tribunal, are likely to bring in more undeclared tax than a bus load of cartoon characters in bowler hats.