'The Times' Tax investigation implicates Scottish Premiership club

HMRC have already requested the repayment of the tax credit

A fairly substantial tax story broke in The Times yesterday. 28 sports teams in the UK have received up to £13m from the government under a research & development scheme.

It's a tax scheme to support innovations for the public good in science and technology. A company can only apply for the tax credits if it has made a "genuine advance in science or technology to benefit the overall field, not just its own business."

The 28 clubs include Chelsea, who were paid more than £2m in R&D tax relief by HMRC over a three-year period.

One club in Scotland claimed £1.28m - equivalent to 15% of their turnover in 2021/22. The tax credit they received for their R&D claim turned their £997k loss into a £280k profit for that year.