April 5 – Belgian tax authorities are chasing €39 million from league leaders Racing Genk, arguing that the club’s legal status as a non-profit does not exempt it from paying corporation tax.
In a note in the yearly accounts, the club reveals that authorities are claiming the sum in a conflict that revolves around Racing Genk’s non-profit status. In the past, a significant number of Belgian clubs were classified as non-profit, but with the professionalisation of the game and its administration almost all top clubs have become companies.
Genk however remained an outlier in the Belgian topflight as the only club organised as a non-profit, which allows them to escape the corporate tax rate of 25%. Genk has been one of the few domestic clubs to regularly book a profit at the end of the financial year in a league where losses have been mammoth. The tax authorities chasing Racing Genk for the tax years 2016 to 2020, according to the annual accounts.
Tax authorities have been taking a closer look at operations in Belgian football. In a wider investigation, judicial authorities have looked at money laundering, bribery, match-fixing and fraud in the game.
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