Ex-Liverpool star John Barnes owes £238,000 in tax, court told

Ex-Liverpool star John Barnes owes £238,000 in tax, court told – as officials lodge bankruptcy petition against former footballer

• Former Liverpool winger John Barnes, 59, owes £238,000 to HMRC
• Tax officials lodged a bankruptcy petition against the ex-Celtic manager
• This is the second time HMRC has gone after Barnes 

Ex-Liverpool star John Barnes claims he needs ‘a bit of time’ to pay off an unpaid bill of £238,000 owed to UK tax authorities.

HM Revenue & Customs are going after the former winger, 59, in a specialist court in London, after officials filed a bankruptcy petition against him. 

Barnes, who won 79 caps over his career as a footballer, was not present at the Insolvency & Companies Court on Wednesday when Judge Catherine Burton considered the case. 

Instead, barrister Nathan Webb, who represented Barnes, told the judge that his client ‘just’ needed time to pay and asked for an adjournment.

He said Barnes was employed by Liverpool Football Club ‘on a salary of £200,000’.

A barrister representing John Barnes (pictured) said he needed ‘a bit more time’ to pay the eyewatering tax bill

Barnes, who won 79 caps over his career as a footballer, was not present at the Insolvency & Companies Court when his case was heard on Wednesday 

He currently works as a ‘club ambassador’ for Liverpool FC

‘Mr Barnes is very well and able to pay,’ Mr Webb told Judge Burton.

‘He just requires a bit of time.’

Liverpool FC said in November that Barnes had been appointed as a ‘club ambassador’ – a role that would ‘see him represent the Reds at home and abroad’.

The judge made no orders during the case, and said the case would be reconsidered later in the year on November 29.  

This isn’t the first time UK tax officials have gone after Barnes, the former head coach at Celtic. 

Another judge dismissed a separate bankruptcy petition lodged by tax officials against him in June.

HMRC officials had indicated, during that earlier litigation, that Barnes had owed at least £200,000.

They had told a judge at the time that money owed had been paid.

Barnes spent 10 years at Anfield, but also played for Watford and Newcastle United. He went on to manage Celtic, Jamaica and Tranmere Rovers.

He won two league titles and two FA Cups with Liverpool. He was also named Footballer of the Year award in 1988 and 1990. 

Last year, he courted controversy when he accused the British public of ‘bullying’ Qatar during the World Cup. 

He claimed that fans from western countries needed to ‘stop lecturing’ Qatar for its human rights record.  

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