John Barnes Banned As A Director

"You've got to hold and give
But do it at the right time
You can be slow or fast
But you must get to the line
They'll always hit you and hurt you
Defend and attack
There's only one way to beat them
Get 'round the back
Catch me if you can
'Cause I'm the England man…"

Well HMRC have certainly caught the (former) England man.

John Barnes has been banned as a company director after his company did not pay thousands of pounds in both VAT and Corporation Tax via his company, John Barnes Media Limited.

The company went into Compulsory Liquidation following a winding-up order being made on 1 March 2023. The company was formed in September 2012.

Investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed that between 2018 and 2020, Mr Barnes’ company, of which he was the sole director, failed to pay more than £190,000 in outstanding Corporation Tax and VAT. HMRC was the company’s only creditor. It turnover in this period was £441,798.

The former Liverpool and England footballer has signed a disqualification undertaking, banning him from acting as a director of a limited company for the next three-and-a-half years.

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.”

The company failed to pay Corporation Tax of £78,839 and VAT of £115,272.

Mr Barnes’ ban began on Wednesday 24 April.