Premier league fine for playing football games in pub

[Michaelbailey]

I have a client who has been playing footballs games without the correct subscription to sky. they were caught and fined however the fine wasn't from sky but was from the premier league. I was wondering if this fine would be tax deductible or not? £5,500 for anyone wondering.

[mackay45]

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/business-...

[Michaelbailey]

mackay45 said:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/business-...

Well the point I am getting at is does this constitute as breaking the law or is this a civil case? I.e. the premier league is not affiliated with the government, or is it? So If you get a parking ticket from the your local council this is not tax deductible, whereas a ticket from careparking for example would be as this is a civil matter.

[aka_kerrly]

£5500 fine, isn't a Sky sports package for business use somewhere around £3-5k per month?

[Michaelbailey]

aka_kerrly said:

£5500 fine, isn't a Sky sports package for business use somewhere around £3-5k per month?

I think it scales on the size of your business. My particular client pays circa £250 a week for the subscription now

[Ean218]

A limited company isn't in a position to levy fines on anyone. A fine is a punishment handed down by a court of law.

So is it a fine or an invoice raised by the premier league on your client which he has agreed to pay? If the latter it is no different to any other invoice.

[Cyberprog]

Ean218 said:

A limited company isn't in a position to levy fines on anyone. A fine is a punishment handed down by a court of law.

So is it a fine or an invoice raised by the premier league on your client which he has agreed to pay? If the latter it is no different to any other invoice.

Presumably it's a settlement in lieu of a legal action?

[fourstardan]

Cyberprog said:

Presumably it's a settlement in lieu of a legal action?

I was going to say.....pay up if I was him.

[Michaelbailey]

Already paid. Just the tax treatment...

[Ean218]

So is it a fine, or an invoice raised by the premier league on your client which he has agreed to pay?

[Michaelbailey]

Not seen an invoice just the payment going out the bank. Ive asked for paperwork so I'll see what shows up

[red_slr]

I remember reading about this a while ago a local pub near me was handed a (much bigger) fine and IIRC the article said that there is legal framework (probably not the right wording) that allows the Premier League to issue these fines to pubs and clubs. I think the company who installed the TVs in the pub had a huge fine too as they were "assisting" the pub in showing the games.

[Michaelbailey]

red_slr said:

I remember reading about this a while ago a local pub near me was handed a (much bigger) fine and IIRC the article said that there is legal framework (probably not the right wording) that allows the Premier League to issue these fines to pubs and clubs. I think the company who installed the TVs in the pub had a huge fine too as they were "assisting" the pub in showing the games.

I have more info now. Actual fine was 13k but agreed instalments with 5.5k upfront. Wasn't for not paying sky, he agreed to start paying sky full fat subscription when they found he was using a normal subscription and sky dropped the case. However playing a 3oclock kick off with the Premier league symbol in the corner had him in breech of copyright with the prem so they levied the "fine" (they showed pictures of his pub with a game on and the symbol in the corner, so must be a bloke who goes round pubs and checks).
The premier league said pay up or we will take your trading license and therefor on the basis of "protection of assets" will be claiming the tax relief.

[Simpo Two]

Michaelbailey said:

However playing a 3oclock kick off with the Premier league symbol in the corner had him in breech of copyright with the prem so they levied the "fine" (they showed pictures of his pub with a game on and the symbol in the corner, so must be a bloke who goes round pubs and checks).
The premier league said pay up or we will take your trading license and therefor on the basis of "protection of assets" will be claiming the tax relief.

Then I'd say it's not a fine but a retrospective licence fee.

I'd also suggest trading licences are a matter for the local council, not Sky... though stand to be corrected.

[Amateurish]

A court can order a fine for copyright infringement. The Premier League cannot. Presumably, the "fine" is some sort of settlement agreement.

[Ean218]

As suspected all along, not a fine.

[Simpo Two]

If he agrees it's time to cough up then I would say 'OK so you want to charge me £x as retrospective licence, fair cop guv, invoice me'.

Then you have an invoice you can put through the books.

[quinny100]

It sounds like your client settled out of court. If he hadn’t, the magistrates court would have heard the case and levied a true fine.

Michaelbailey said:

they showed pictures of his pub with a game on and the symbol in the corner, so must be a bloke who goes round pubs and checks.

Sky and BT contract this work out. There are lots people and lots of visits - not all carried out by blokes though. If you’re licensed and not paying a Sky subscription you’ll be visited.

This is all revenue protection for Sky and BT, the Premier League breach of copyright is just best legal mechanism by which to get cases in to court and they a vested interest in keeping up the prices of their TV rights.

[Zirconia]

If it was 3 o clock KO then they are not shown live in the UK and won't have Sky or BBC branding, just PL wipes etc. The PL will be selling that on somewhere in the world for a live feed. Sky, BT etc. will be using the footage for post match programs.