So much for the goodwill, United
MANCHESTER UNITED are facing criticism after they put off paying a £10million tax bill despite being set to fork out £11m in dividends next month to their owners, including £8.5m to the Glazer family.
Small print in United’s latest quarterly results reveal the Premier League giants chose to defer their £10m VAT bill to the UK government for a year.
Yet the dividend, the second £11m windfall for their shareholders over the past 12 months, comes as United announced last week that their net debt had risen by £127.4m to a huge £429.1m. The Glazers will pick up more than £8.5m of the latest dividends.
United have been one of the most exemplary clubs during the coronavirus crisis as they refused to furlough staff, unlike Liverpool and Tottenham, who were forced into embarrassing u-turns after initially putting workers into the UK government’s scheme.
United have also spent more than £1m on relief efforts to the pandemic in their local area.
But this latest move could undo some of that goodwill, as well as infuriate fans frustrated with the Glazer ownership, given the British taxpayer is due to carry the bill for any interest on money borrowed by its government
Football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire told Sportsmail: ‘I don’t think it reflects particularly well on the club because ultimately it means that the government have to borrow more money on behalf of the taxpayer, who have to pay interest on that to allow the Glazers and other shareholders to be paid £11m.
‘United have got a lot of credit in this crisis. It was fantastic that they committed to paying their part-time staff. Now this is showing the other side. It is disappointing because you expect more from a club of that stature.’
United appreciate how it looks but insist the UK government encouraged all VAT-paying companies to use the scheme, which will see the club pay the sum back a year later, and they believe other clubs are also making use of it.
The club maintains that the dividends were confirmed in February, and would face legal issues if it went back on them. Future payments are believed to be under review.