The employment implications and tax status of English football referees: Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 1370

Abstract

In September 2021, the Court of Appeal in England and Wales delivered its judgment in the case of Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs v Professional Game Match Officials [2021] EWCA Civ 1370 (hereafter PGMOL). The case concerned the employment status of referees who officiate in the men's professional game. The First-Tier Tribunal of the Tax and Chancery Chamber (FTT) had allowed PGMOL's appeal against the Revenue's determination that a certain class of part-time referees were the employees of PGMOL under s. 4(1) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, and that income tax and employer's national insurance contributions should be deducted from the payments that PGMOL made to them in 2013–2016. On the Revenue's appeal, the Upper Tribunal (UT) upheld the FTT's decision on 6 May 2020. The Revenue further appealed.