Online Reporter
FOOTBALL legend John Barnes has revealed the staggering amount he is paying the taxman after being thrust into a bankruptcy nightmare.
Former Liverpool and England winger Barnes has been paying regular amounts to HM Revenue & Customs for the past eight years. However, earlier this month, it was reported that he was hit with another bankruptcy petition at the High Court.
Barnes had accumulated debts of over £1,5 million in his media firm, having been banned as company director for three-and-a-half years. The firm, John Barnes Media Limited, went into liquidation two years after failing to pay more than £190 000 in tax.
As outlined in his latest liquidators’ progress report, the 61-year-old owes HMRC £776 878 in unpaid VAT, NI and PAYE, £461 849 to unsecured creditors, a £226 000 directors loan and liquidator’s costs worth £56 535.
But Barnes has spoken to the All Things Business podcast to address what he claims are misleading reports about his financial affairs. He also said that he has repaid around £2,2 million since 2017, and continues to pay £10 000 each month.
Speaking on the podcast, he said: “I was making a lot of money, I was the first £10000 a week footballer and benefited from that for a few years.”
Football legend John Barnes pays a staggering amount to the taxman every month
Barnes had accumulated debts of over £1,5 million in his media firm and was banned as director.
“Like a lot of elite sportspeople, I got burned because I trusted people, I got caught out a couple of times and ended up losing between £1 million and £1,5 million over four years.
“In 2017, I began talking to HMRC about what I could do to repay what I owed.”
Barnes said that when he had been served with petitions, he had gone to court to make arrangements to pay in a bid to avoid being made bankrupt.
He added: “I know how hard it is for people out there. I don’t want to say there are loopholes, or that I can get away with this or that, or have people think I can be made bankrupt and keep my assets, because I’ve already sold everything.
“I don’t have any assets. But every time something new comes up, stories appear in the press saying negative things about how I am not paying my taxes, even though I’m going to court, not to be made bankrupt, but to ask for permission to keep paying.
“Football is a working-class sport, and I don’t want hard-working people thinking I’ve got all this money and I won’t pay tax. It would be easy to be made bankrupt because they can’t take anything else from me.” – MailOnline.
