The Upper Tribunal refused the taxpayer company permission to appeal against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal in an IR35 case on one of the three grounds it advanced but accepted the other two grounds.    

The respondent (and applicant) was the personal service company of an ex-professional footballer (BR). BR acted as an ‘ambassador’ for Manchester United Football Club (MUFC) under an ‘ambassador agreement’, which contained various terms dealing with image rights. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) considered that the intermediaries legislation (IR35) applied to all monies paid under the ambassador agreement. 

The First-tier Tribunal ([2025] UKFTT 56 (TC)) determined two issues. The first (the ‘IR35 decision’)