Interesting reading. Mr Allam is using Hull City's losses to reduce Allamhouse corporation tax bill. To the tune of 10 million pounds. So when he pleads poverty and we all feel sorry for him and are eternally grateful for his "gifts" or loans and are bending over backwards to please him so he doesnt do one or pull the plug, even letting him rename us, basically he is using us and making a lot of money out of us. Is it legal? Maybe someone better qualified than me can answer....?
Yes it's legal. In short, no, there's much easier ways to avoid tax than to sink a load of unrecoverable* money into a business you didn't previously own. *unrecoverable because there's nothing there to get it back out of the business from
Isn't it a bit like claiming some tax benefits from giving a load of money to charity? You're still worse off than before you made the extra spending.
It's not a tax dodge, and he's not in it to make money. If it was an investment for profit, there are millions more ways that amount cash could be better invested. I think it's a mixture of gift and to raise the profile of himself and his company. I'd never heard of either til he bought us out, now I bet he's got a lot more global recognition. The name change scenario has shot him up even further, for better or worse you decide, but he's far better known because of it.
Probably bollocks but... I've heard there's been a down turn in the generator business, but could all this be cheap advertising/promotion for that side of his business, rather than anything more football related?
Pretty sure there was an article about this a year or so ago. I guess the downturn that occurred was causing a drop in demand for the generators they produce. The article thought it was a temporary thing as the generators were needed and companies were simply delaying purchasing new models.
I do think that there is something slightly cynical about the way his 'investment' was presented as a gift, yet Allam has often gone against the wishes of the fans. Perhaps he merely thinks that he knows what is best for 'us' etc... But I am dubious, especially with the whole stadium saga - I wouldn't be particularly surprised if a big motivation was a decent chance of nabbing a 25k stadium on the criminally cheap.
It will already have cost him 5x it's value. If he only wanted land for property development, he'd have just bought land, not paid 40 odd million for a football club then pumped another 30 in. How much do you think land is worth? £1m per square foot?
Given that the Stadium cost £44m to build over 10 years ago - and he would had planned to further develop the surrounding area - I reckon you could sell a club with an asset like that for a profit. Ultimately, I haven't investigated the finances, how the money has been invested etc... and I could be wrong, this is just speculation. However, just looking at it simply, Allam has continuously shown himself as somebody motivated by profit, not interested in football, not interested in the fans... you have to ask, what is in it for him?
I don't think Allam put the money into Hull City as a "tax dodge" but it makes sense to minimise the costs by whatever way he can.
What do you mean US? the club is his we are only members of it. (Members may have a say but the decisions and costs are his.)
I think that on face value you have a point, Mr Hat; but what about another take that maybe flawed, or not: He wanted the stadium, of that there is no doubt whatsoever; he went to great lengths to have full designs and models made to represent his 'dream' or ambition. These ambitions were centred on his purchase of the stadium, something he was clearly pretty confident of achieving, to the point where refusal turned him into a wounded beast within the city. He could have bought other land and developed that, but that misses the point. He had his dreams and ambition, as well as a finite timescale to achieve them - remember this is the man who made it known his intention to retire - his plans were so prejudged and demanding, it is really quite breath-taking. His dreams were (are?) for a sporting empire on a city central development that would provide an income for his main sporting business - Hull City AFC and would support the introduction of other sports, squash and swimming in particular. This, of course, is laudable; the city needs investment and development such as this; but unless you know differently, development sites such as this, with a pre-built and supposedly cheap stadium and sporting teams already in place are a very rare thing. But let us be clear, all (or most) of his current investment is in the form of loans on which he receives a decent investment return, he does get tax breaks, which are very nice to have and he is fully entitled to all of that. I agree that his investment is not hugely offset by these benefits, but they are no more that the parts of a bigger entity - or that is/was his intention and the one for which he is now crucifying the heritage of our club - yes, our club. His plan is to run our club as he would run any other business, he will keep the purse strings within his family empire and grow stronger within the city; the plot on which the stadium sits is a real jewel and he recognised that as did the property man Bartlett and others. It is all self-serving piffle wrapped in the sugary and dishonest nonsense of being a civic benefactor. Can anyone believe a word he says anymore? Should he prevail in his development plans and do as he has proclaimed in keeping our club in the PL and then in Europe, then his returns will be huge and ongoing. I don’t begrudge his business returns, but I detest his lies and manipulation of his customer base and, because of that, I do not trust him as an owner of the KC Stadium. I have made the decision not to attend another game at the KC while this nonsense prevails – I am voting with my feet. I accept it is easy as I am not a season ticket holder, but it is the only real way to demonstrate against him. If I had of been a season ticket holder I would have returned it and taken the refund, but yes, that’s easy for me to say.
Hull City is our club. It lives in our hearts. No one can take it away from us. I know with my simple tax affairs any expense or loss i get 29% "back" or i dont pay 29% tax on that amount. Same thing. So if the 66 -72 million pound loss can be factored into the Allmhouse accounts thats a lot more than 10 million. All I'm saying is, with the expected Sky plus foreign TV and premiership money plus gate corporate and merchandise -£60 million a season? Mr Allam might actually be making a profit amongst all this. And when next season doesnt start off with -40million he may make even more. If Mr Allam puts his hand in his pocket this window and buys players then we know things arent as bad for him as he is making out, and surely that lessens the fear to "let him do what he wants as its his money".
You could be right, he does seem a "I want, I get and we do it my way" kind of man. That said the location is prime, I don't think you'd find another space anywhere near to the same distance from the city centre, never mind in a decent built up area even if it is a little run down. I think if his plan was to build a sports complex before even thinking about buying Hull City that patch of land would be at the top of his list. I just can't see that being his reason for buying the club though, with the amount of money he's put into the club alone he could probably have built the sports complex twice. Just think how long it would take to return his initial input and make profit, his children's children's children would probably be dead by that time. If he was looking for a new profitable business venture I am 99.9% certain he'd have taken his cash elsewhere, it's a no brainer.
