Wasps will use £500,000 windfall to pay tax demand

Profit and loss: Danny Cipriani has been part of Wasps’ success on the pitch but off it the club have not had it all their own way
10 April 2012

The £500,000 London Wasps will bank from playing at Twickenham on Saturday will almost cover the money they owe the tax man.

Reports this morning claimed the Guinness Premiership side were facing a winding-up order over a £1million tax demand but the club insist they are not in a financial crisis and that the bill they face is closer to half that amount.

Wasps are predicted to lose around £1.5m this year so the profit from their St George's Day clash with Bath is timely given the situation with HM Revenue and Customs.

Chairman Steve Hayes, who also owns Wycombe Wanderers, issued a bullish statement today, saying: "We remain very confident in the future of Wasps both on and off the pitch. There is no winding-up petition and I am surprised by these reports given we already have an agreement in place with HMRC.

"We have enjoyed great form recently and look forward to a hugely exciting St George's Day fixture.

"The short and long-term prospects at the club, including the development of a new stadium, are very exciting and show the good health of Wasps."

Mark McCafferty, chief executive of Premier Rugby which represents the 12 top-flight clubs, is also confident about Wasps' situation and that of the league as a whole.

"Having spoken to Wasps, I believe this is a storm in a tea cup and will not be an issue in two or three weeks," he said.

"The Premiership clubs are looking forward to a major boost in their income next season and will each receive around £2.6m compared to £1.8m this season thanks to increased revenue from new deals. I have no concerns about individual club financial positions and we are keeping a close eye on everyone in the current climate.

"It appears HMRC are tightening the screw across the country on small and medium-sized companies to maximise revenue."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in