The independent commission which studied the case found City “utilised devices” to “disguise the true extent of certain club liabilities”.
The findings have prompted the Treasury Committee, which is responsible for overseeing policies and administration of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), to ask whether the government department has requested the redacted documents contained within the commission’s report.
Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the cross-party group of MPs, said she would “welcome reassurance from HMRC that you are seized of the importance of these issues and the public interest in this case”.
The letter follows a report from the Tax Policy Associates, external which claims City failed to pay as much as £12m in unpaid tax because of a “sham” contract with former manager Roberto Mancini.
In addition to unpaid income tax and National Insurance, the report claims City could face a penalty charge that would take their liabilities to £24m.
The Business, Innovation, Science and Trade committee has called for stronger action on corporate accounting in a letter to the government and the Financial Reporting Council.
Committee Chair Baroness LLoyd said the findings suggested a “serious failure of security” and that “clubs complying with the rules need confidence that those rules are enforced fairly”.
Separately, it has emerged that City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak met with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds days before the club’s guilty verdicts were announced.
The BBC has been told that the club was not mentioned and that Al Mubarak was visiting in his capacity as CEO of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.
It is understood the pair’s discussions focussed on the UK’s relationship with the UAE including defence, security, intelligence and trade.
UK government sources argue it is “totally normal” for the business secretary to have these sorts of meetings.
The encounter was first reported by Bloomberg.
Additional reporting by BBC political correspondent Joe Pike.