Premier League clubs made more than £150M profit last year yet paid less than £3M in corporation tax "for an effective tax rate of 2%," according to Paul Gallagher of the London INDEPENDENT. What is "equally startling" is that a profit of £150M made by eight clubs is "all that the Premier League has to show for a turnover of about £2.2B a year." Five clubs, including ManU, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, paid no tax at all "despite a combined surplus of more than £70M." Blackpool, relegated from the Premier League last year, paid more than £100,000 on profits of £21M -- a rate of 0.5%. The club "was able to pay minimal tax on its substantial profits because of the effects" of a £6.7M loss the year before. The club also donated more than £5,000 to charities. Of the other profitable elite clubs, Arsenal "had the biggest potential tax bill" -- £7M on group profits of £36.6M -- but paid less than £500,000 while deferring more than £6M. West Bromwich Albion topped the company tax table, paying £1.8M on £18.9M profits. U.K. political party Liberal Democrats Deputy Leader Simon Hughes said: "Whatever the accounts of these clubs say, everyone knows that the Premier League is awash with money. This and many other examples that have emerged over recent months demonstrate that the government should conduct a serious review of our corporate tax regime." The Labour MP and former Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: "Even though this isn't illegal, it's not right. I will be raising this issue with the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee this week, as a matter of urgency" (INDEPENDENT, 12/2).
