Former England and Liverpool footballer John Barnes has been given his marching orders over unpaid company taxes.
The winger, 60, who was capped 79 times for his country, has been banned from serving as a company director for three-and-a-half years after his media business, John Barnes Media Limited, went into liquidation last year owing HMRC £190,000 in corporation tax and VAT.
Barnes, who famously rapped the line “Catch me if you can I’m an England man” on New Order’s number one hit single World in Motion released for the 1990 World Cup, had a short spell in management after retiring as a player before becoming a pundit and media personality.
He set up his limited company in 2012, serving as its sole director. The company ceased trading in 2020, but was not liquidated until 2023. It was at this point that the Insolvency Service opened an investigation into Barnes’ conduct as a director over outstanding money owed to HMRC, the company’s sole creditor.
The Insolvency Service found that John Barnes Media Ltd paid no tax to HMRC between November 2018 and October 2020, despite reporting a turnover £441,798. The final analysis of the investigation was that the company failed to pay £78,839 in corporation tax between August 2018 and January 2020, the date it ceased trading. The company also failed to pay £115,272 in VAT between February 2019 and 2020.
Unfit Conduct
Company directors have a certain level of protection against being held personally liable for debts and losses incurred by the businesses they run. But they are subject to a wide range of statutory duties relating to their conduct and their role in administering the company. One of the main legal responsibilities of a director relates to preparing and filing accurate accounts and financial reports, including tax returns.
As in John Barnes’s case, failing to provide accurate and timely tax returns to HMRC, and/or failing to pay the correct amount of tax, can lead to directors being disqualified on the grounds of ‘unfit conduct’. Disqualification prevents an individual from serving as a director of any company registered in the UK or an overseas company that has connections with the UK, or otherwise be involved in forming, marketing or running a company.
The maximum term for disqualification is 15 years, and breaking the terms of disqualification can lead to a criminal charge with a maximum punishment of two years imprisonment.