Tribunal decides football referees are self-employed

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) v HMRC concerned the employment status of a group of football referees and whether PGMOL, as their engager, would be liable for income tax and NICs on their income. The FTT found that there was a contractual relationship between PGMOL and the referees, as HMRC submitted, and that each separate engagement constituted a separate contract. The remainder of the case rested upon the familiar battleground of mutuality of obligation and control. As no mutuality subsisted even during the currency of an engagement, the FTT found the contract lacked the requisite mutuality to comprise a contract of employment. The FTT also considered whether a sufficient framework of control operated over each engagement – and found in favour of PGMOL on this ground too.