What clubs, players & agents need to know about HMRC’s new guidance on football agents’ fees and dual representation

This article examines HMRC’s new guidance of 13 May 2024 entitled Help with Football Agents’ Fees and Dual Representation Contracts (2024 Guidance) ^[1].

Where an agent is acting for both an acquiring club and a footballer (i.e. dual representation), then any fee paid by the club to the agent will, in principle, be treated by HMRC as giving rise to a benefit in kind charge in the hands of the footballer (subject to tax).  This charge is by reference to the proportion of the agent’s fees paid by the acquiring club, which may be said “really” to be paid for the benefit of the footballer and not for the benefit of the club.

The 2024 Guidance provides further detail on this approach, and states (broadly speaking) that HMRC now need specific evidence to depart from their new “default position” that a football agent is acting for the exclusive benefit of a player (rather than the player and the club); and it seems likely that a great deal of evidence will be needed to dispel this starting assumption. This article examines the key points of the 2024 Guidance, explaining:

• HMRC’s evolving view on dual representation
• Why HMRC are placing the burden on the player
• What HMRC want to see to evidence genuine dual representation
• Is HMRC’s new approach fair?
• The importance of contemporaneous evidence
• What to do if the transfer happens at the last minute
• Key points to remember