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The total debt owed to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs by football clubs in England’s top four divisions is about £25m, it has been claimed.

The estimate is made by “senior HMRC sources”, according to The Guardian, which also quotes the Revenue’s director of debt management and banking Nick Lodge as saying that football clubs will not be treated any differently from other businesses when it comes to chasing tax.

HMRC is pursuing Portsmouth over about £15m in unpaid VAT and PAYE. It is believed the outstanding £25m figure is spread across between 10 and 20 clubs.

Lodge said: "The principles we apply to football clubs are the same principles we apply to everybody. Those principles play out a little differently depending on the particular circumstances of the case [but] I don't think we're applying those principles particularly differently.

"But I do think our general handling of debt across the board is improving. We are getting into a dialogue with people more quickly and they are much clearer about the consequences if they don't live up to their commitments to us, and one or two football clubs have found themselves in that position."

HMRC will return to the High Court next week to hear Portsmouth’s response to questions over the process by which it was placed into administration. Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Notts County and Southend United have also been petitioned by the Revenue for non-payment of tax this year.

Lodge added: "The proportion of cases where we end up in court is really small and we don't like ending up there. If this recent period causes clubs to reflect and make changes to avoid getting into difficulty, then all to the good.

"We would rather the total was nil. It's not nil but non-payment is not endemic and the amount owed is perhaps not as large as some people might generally think, but of course we will carry on working to reduce it further."