Calibra Sports
Accountants for
professional footballers.
Specialist tax and accountancy for professional footballers and the agents who advise them. Self Assessment, image rights, sponsorship, company filings and the claims most players get wrong, handled properly so you can focus on playing.
0 yrs
In finance leadership
0+
Clients supported
£0m+
Client revenue overseen
Why we built it
Too many players overpay, or get caught out.
The money arrives fast, the tax advice often does not. Income comes from several directions at once, contract, bonuses, image rights, sponsorship, and the tax treatment of each one is different. Without someone joining it up, returns go in wrong and reliefs get missed.
We already work with players across the football pyramid, from academy graduates taking a first professional contract through to established professionals in the National League and Football League.
Calibra Sports exists to close those gaps. Same practice, same standards, same people you would get anywhere else at Calibra, pointed squarely at the tax and accounting side of a career in football.
The career line
Built around how a football career actually runs.
Phase 01
Academy to first contract
Getting the basics right before the money moves. Registration with HMRC, records kept properly, and knowing what is yours and what belongs to the taxman.
Phase 02
Peak earning years
Contract, bonuses, image rights and sponsorship pulling in different tax directions. We join them up and keep the filings clean.
Phase 03
Company income alongside
Where commercial income runs through a company, the accounts, VAT, payroll and Corporation Tax are handled properly rather than patched together later.
Phase 04
Life after the game
Your tax position changes when contract income stops. We prepare for that year in advance so the final returns and the first ones after are straightforward.
Our services
Tax and accounts, handled end to end.
From your Self Assessment to the filings for any company your commercial income runs through, we cover the full compliance picture and plan the tax around it. No jargon, no last minute scrambles, no surprises from HMRC.
Personal tax
Self Assessment and personal tax
Contract income, bonuses, image rights, sponsorship and endorsements handled in one place. We also go through the costs of playing, unreimbursed travel to training and away games, boots and training kit, physio and PFA subscriptions, so the claims you're entitled to actually make it onto the return.
- Self Assessment returns
- Expense claims: travel, boots, kit, physio, subscriptions
- Image rights and sponsorship income
- Tax forecasting and payments on account
Accounts and compliance
Company accounts and filings
If your commercial income runs through a company, the compliance still has to be right. We keep the bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and annual filings in order so nothing is late and nothing is missed.
- Annual accounts and Corporation Tax
- Bookkeeping, VAT and payroll
- Companies House and HMRC deadlines
Tax planning
Planning and HMRC support
Tax is easier to manage when it is planned rather than reacted to. We look ahead at your income mix, keep reserves set aside for what is owed, and deal with HMRC directly if any questions come up.
- Year round tax planning
- Reserving for tax bills
- HMRC correspondence and enquiries
What you can claim
The costs most players never think to claim.
Playing football costs money before it pays you, and the rules differ depending on whether a cost sits against your club salary, self-employed coaching or a company. We go through the year with you item by item, apply the right test to each one, and claim what's genuinely allowable instead of guessing at a round number.
Travel and mileage
Trials, temporary venues, treatment appointments and travel tied to coaching or commercial work, where nobody has reimbursed it. Your normal journey to the training ground counts as commuting, so we're straight with you about what does and doesn't qualify.
Boots, kit and equipment
Boots, moulds and studs, training kit, gloves and recovery gear. Employed players face a strict test on these, while equipment bought for self-employed coaching or commercial work is usually deductible against that income.
Physio, treatment and conditioning
Private physiotherapy, sports massage, rehab and strength work you fund yourself. We check what your club already covers first, because nothing can be claimed twice.
Subscriptions and registrations
PFA membership and other approved professional bodies, league and association fees, plus coaching badges and courses where they relate to work you're already doing.
Agent fees and dual representation
Where an agent acts for you and the club, the fee has to be split and the club's share is a taxable benefit on you. We get the split evidenced and reported properly, and tell you the real cost of the deal.
Media, image and admin costs
Content and photography for sponsorship work, phone and data used for commercial commitments, insurance, and the accountancy fees behind your company or commercial income.
What's claimable depends on whether the income is employment, self-employment or company income, and anything your club already covers can't be claimed twice. We apply the right test to each cost, keep the evidence on file, and only put through what stands up if HMRC asks.
Claim estimator
See what a season of costs could be worth.
Move the sliders to your own season. It is a guide, not a quote, but it shows why the receipts you throw in the glovebox are worth keeping.
Your tax band
Indicative result
£2,080
Potential tax saved on £5,200 of claimable costs
- Travel and mileage£2,700
- Boots, kit and equipment£900
- Physio and conditioning£1,200
- Subscriptions and fees£400
Mileage is estimated at 0.45 per mile for the first 10,000 miles equivalent. This is a guide only. What you can actually claim depends on your contract, what your club reimburses and your wider tax position.
Contract to take home
Where a contract actually ends up.
The number in the paper is rarely the number in your account. Here is the shape of it, before any planning or claims are applied.
- Income tax
- £39,432
- National Insurance
- £4,411
- Agent fees
- £6,000
- Take home
- £70,157
33% of gross
4% of gross
5% of gross
58% of gross
Illustration only, based on standard England and Northern Ireland rates for an employed player with no other income. Bonuses, image rights, signing on fees and pension contributions all change the picture, which is exactly what we work through with you.
Your season, your tax year
Twelve months, mapped fixture by fixture.
Pre season
New contracts, signing on fees and bonuses agreed. We check the tax treatment before anything is signed.
Season kicks off
Records start for the year: mileage, kit, physio and subscriptions logged as you go rather than reconstructed in January.
31 January
Self Assessment filed and the balancing payment plus first payment on account due. Reserved for well in advance.
5 April
Tax year ends. Final chance for planning moves on pensions, timing of income and company drawings.
End of season
Contract talks, releases and moves. We look at what changes for next year before the summer window closes.
31 July
Second payment on account due. No surprises, because the figure has been known since January.
Who we work with
Three players, three very different returns.
These are the three levels we most often pick up, and what the tax work usually looks like at each one. Find the level closest to where you are now.
Academy graduate
First professional contract, a boot deal and no idea what to set aside.
What this level typically needs
- Registered for Self Assessment and first return filed
- Boot deal and appearance income reported correctly
- A monthly figure to hold back for tax
National League part timer
Playing income alongside a day job, with travel and kit paid out of pocket.
What this level typically needs
- PAYE and playing income joined up on one return
- Unreimbursed travel, boots and subscriptions claimed
- Refund position reviewed for earlier years
Football League professional
Club contract, bonuses, sponsorship and commercial income through a company.
What this level typically needs
- Company accounts, VAT, payroll and Corporation Tax handled
- Image rights and sponsorship treated properly
- Year round planning and HMRC correspondence covered
How we work with you
One to one, with the same person throughout.
You are not passed around a team. You deal directly with the person who handles your tax, and every explanation comes without jargon, so you are never in the dark about what you earn, what you owe and what you keep.
Your numbers, one to one
Private sessions on your own figures, walking through what you earn, what you owe and what you keep, with nothing dressed up in jargon.
Answers when you need them
A direct line to the person who handles your tax. Ask before you sign, before you spend, or before a payment lands, not after.
Working with your agent
Where you want your agent or adviser involved, we join up with them on your behalf, so the tax side of a deal is clear before it is signed.
Go deeper
The three areas that decide what you keep.
Questions players ask us.
Calibra Sports
Talk to us about your tax.
From a first professional contract to life after the game, we handle the numbers so you can concentrate on the part only you can do.
Send us a few details and we will come back to you with a straight answer on what you can claim, what you owe and how we would work together.