http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36266364Tax doesn't have to be taxing
Finally, there may be some in the lower leagues who may have another, totally legal motive for owning a club.
Pete Hackleton, tax partner at Saffery Champness, explains: "What can be quite popular is if you have a profitable company which is already paying tax in the UK or anywhere else on its profits and you were to buy a football club which is making losses, then the profitable company can sponsor the football club.
"You could be the main shirt sponsor, stand sponsor or whatever else. Let's say the profitable company pays £1m a year for that privilege. The profitable company has an extra £1m for expenditure, so effectively it saves tax on that £1m, and the football club has an extra £1m of income, which, because it has other losses, probably doesn't have to pay tax.
"But the other way for the owners is quite often if they've got a profitable company, they will acquire the football club underneath that company. Then what you can do is, when the football club makes a loss, you can surrender those losses to the profitable company.
"If that company is making £5m a year of profit, it would have £1m of tax to pay in the UK. But if the company is making a £5m profit and a football club underneath it making a £5m loss, you can just offset the two. Overall there's no profit and no tax to pay."
Comments
Quite liked this quote from the Wycombe owner and is very true when you consider it.
Off the pitch, as chairman, while I have absolute respect and will do anything I can for Wycombe Wanderers and support the lads and everyone there, I'm not a Wycombe Wanderers fan.
"I don't have a football drug that suddenly switches me over into crazed decisions. I do all my decisions from a commercial perspective."
So instead of paying £1M of tax on £5M of profit and ending up with £4M you pay 0 tax on zero profit and end up with nothing. Not the greatest business decision.