Professional Game Match Officials v HMRC

Our pick of this week's cases

In Professional Game Match Officials v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 528 (30 August 2018) the FTT found that referees were not employees (ITEPA 2003 s 4(1)(a)).

Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) is a company limited by guarantee consisting of three members: the Football Association Limited (the FA); the Football Association Premier League Limited (the Premier League); and The Football League Limited (the Football League now the ‘EFL’). PGMOL is funded by its members on an annual basis and is run on a ‘not for profit basis’. Its role is to provide referees and other match officials for matches in the most significant national football competitions. The main issue was whether the referees provided by PGMOL were in its employment.

PGMOL’s case was not simply that the referees were self-employed but also that there was no contract between it and...