U.K. tax authority HMRC "has opened a new front in the battle to collect" the £32B ($49B) in tax it estimates goes unpaid in Britain every year -- pursuing football coaches, according to David Conn of the London GUARDIAN. HMRC has written to 3,300 coaches understood to have a UEFA level qualification -- the more professional end of the game -- "calling on them to disclose and pay any outstanding tax or face possible criminal charges." The FA, which was under a legal obligation to cooperate, "has supplied the names and addresses of the 3,300 licensed coaches." In HMRC's letter, the 3,300 people, which will include some well-qualified coaches working part-time at semi-professional level, up to the biggest clubs, are urged to come forward "or face more than a red card." The letter suggests that some coaches, many of whom work odd hours at different clubs, "are not declaring some or all of the money they make, and that tax will be owing." The letter said, "I am sharing with you the fact that we have received extensive data about coaches from sources in the football community." It calls on coaches to declare unpaid tax, "Before we complete our risk assessment of that data." HMRC would not say how much money its sources suggested "has been paid to football coaches and not declared as income" (GUARDIAN, 5/14).
