HMRC faces pressure from MPs to investigate Man City after Premier League guilty verdict

Manchester City are facing potential HMRC scrutiny after a Treasury Committee MP wrote to the tax authority in the wake of the club being found guilty of 114 of 115 Premier League financial charges, with City having already lodged a formal appeal against the verdict.

MP Dame Meg Hillier has written to JP Marks, secretary of HMRC, asking whether the authority has received a redacted version of the independent commission’s report submitted by the Premier League. In the letter, she stated: “I would be interested in any common issues around taxation (including the taxation of remuneration) that you have found in their practices and how HMRC is tackling them.” Thursday, 15 October has been reported as the deadline for a reply.

The financial charges against City relate to a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 — a spell during which the club won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three League Cups. The independent commission’s findings were published this week, prompting City to issue a swift denial and submit a comprehensive appeal.

In a statement released on Friday, the club confirmed: “Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the Club lodged its comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter.”

The statement continued: “The Club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe. The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete.”

The development adds a significant new dimension to the long-running case, raising the possibility that scrutiny of City’s financial conduct could extend beyond the Premier League’s own disciplinary process and into the domain of the UK’s tax authority.