Liverpool and England hero racks up £1.5m debt & given three-and-a-half-year ban
Former Liverpool and England star John Barnes owes huge sums to HMRC and other creditors according to fresh paperwork from liquidators, with "no funds" available to pay unsecured creditors
Former England star John Barnes has racked up debts of £1.5m in his media firm. Fresh paperwork from liquidators has revealed the ex-Liverpool winger's owes huge sums to HMRC and other creditors.
Bills include £776,878 to the taxman in unpaid VAT, NI and PAYE, £461,849 to unsecured creditors, a directors loan worth £226,000 and liquidator's costs worth £56,535. The football legend has repaid £60,000 after agreeing to repay the directors loan in instalments.
But the latest report warns that only a 'small distribution' towards the tax bill will be paid, while 'no funds' will be available to pay unsecured creditors. The John Barnes Media Limited company went into liquidation in 2023 after failing to pay tax.
Barnes, 61, was last year banned as a company director for three-and-a-half years. It came after his media firm failed to pay £190,000 in VAT and corporation tax. An investigation by the Insolvency Service, which began in September 2023, found that the company failed to pay £78839 in corporation tax between August 2018 and January 2020.
It also failed to pay £115,272 in VAT between February 2019 and 2020. During that time the company's turnover was £441,798 and the company filing returns outlined what VAT payments should have been made.
An Insolvency Service statement read: 'The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Barnes. His ban started on Wednesday 24 April."
Barnes, capped 79 times by England, also played for Watford and Newcastle United. He formed the company in September 2012. Barnes was the company's sole director.
He declined to comment when approached by the Mirror at his home in Heswall on the Wirral.
He has been the subject of six different bankruptcy petitions dating back to 2010.
In 2009, he said in an interview: 'I don't like dealing with taxes, of course. I just hate not having enough money. Apart from that, I don't like dealing with bills and never have done.
"I let my wife Andrea deal with them. I don't even like opening them.'
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