ENGLAND legend John Barnes is facing a fresh threat of bankruptcy after amassing more than £1.5 million in unpaid debt.
The former Liverpool and England winger could be hit with financial ruin once again after HMRC lodged a petition at the High Court today.
It was filed close to two months after it emerged Barnes had racked up more than £1.5 million in debts at his media firm – John Barnes Media Limited – including almost £800,000 due to HMRC.
Barnes, 61, had been banned as a company director for more than three and a half years in 2024 after his company failed to pay more than £78,000 in corporation tax between August 2018 and January 2020.
The most recent liquidators’ report on his media company showed he owed HMRC £776,878 in unpaid VAT, NI and PAYE.
Barnes also owed unsecured creditors £461,849, a directors loan worth £226,000, and liquidators’ costs of £56,535.
The winger, who won two league titles and two FA Cups with Liverpool, has fended off multiple previous bankruptcy petitions since 2010.
He last avoided going bust in 2023 after settling a personal-tax bill of more than £200,000.
Another petition lodged against him was dismissed in court that November.
In the most recent case, Barnes has paid back £60,000 after agreeing to return the director’s loan in instalments, according to the liquidators’ report.
While the report anticipated that a “small distribution” would be paid to HMRC, “no funds” would be available for unsecured creditors.
Barnes’ banning as a company director came after investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed his company failed to pay nearly £200,000 in corporation tax and VAT.
He signed a disqualification undertaking which banned him from being a company director for three and a half years, reports The Telegraph.
Mike Smith, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Individuals and businesses not paying the tax they should deprives the Government of the funding it needs to provide vital public services and investment in areas such as schools, hospitals and roads.
“John Barnes had a legal duty to ensure his company paid the correct amount of corporation tax and VAT. Instead, it paid no tax whatsoever between November 2018 and October 2020, despite receiving earnings of well over £400,000.
“This disqualification should serve as a deterrent to other directors that if you do not pay your taxes while directing money elsewhere, you are at risk of being banned.”
Barnes, who earned 79 England caps during a 19-year professional career, formed his media company in September 2012, following his retirement in 1999.
He served as the sole director of the company, which described itself as offering media representation services.
Between November 2018 and October 2020 (the period in which close to £200,000 of unpaid debt to HMRC was accrued), the company had a turnover of £441,798.
The Insolvency Service said nothing was paid to HMRC in tax during that period, despite the company filing returns showing what the VAT payments should have been.
An investigation found that not only had the company failed to pay £78,839 in that period but also failed to pay £115,272 in VAT between February 2019 and 2020.
The company ceased trading in January 2020.
I don’t like dealing with bills and never have done. I don’t even like opening them.
John Barnes in 2009
Barnes, who managed Tranmere Rovers and Jamaica after his playing career, saw his company enter liquidation after this.
Eventually, an Insolvency Service investigation into Barnes’ conduct as a director began in September 2023, while the former star was facing a bankruptcy petition over a £238,000 tax bill.
Barrister Nathan Webb, who represented the ex-footballer at a hearing that same month into Barnes’s personal tax affairs, told the judge that his client “just” needed time to pay.
He said Barnes was employed by Liverpool Football Club “on a salary of £200,000” and was “very well and able to pay”.
The bankruptcy petition was dismissed two months later after HMRC confirmed the debt had been paid and a settlement had been reached.
In 2009, the winger saw a bankruptcy order against him rescinded following what he called a “tax oversight”.
He told Telegraph Sport at the time: “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. A few times my credit card has been declined when I’ve been travelling abroad.
“Then I have to get creative about paying the bill and have to really root around. That’s much more satisfying than just having it come easily.”
The Sun has reached out to Barnes for comment.
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