John Barnes, a former Liverpool and England footballer, has been disqualified from acting as a company director following the failure of his business to settle a tax bill of £190,000.
The Insolvency Service discovered that his media representation company, John Barnes Media Ltd, did not pay any tax between November 2018 and October 2020, despite generating a turnover of £441,798.
As a result, Barnes has agreed to a disqualification undertaking that prohibits him from serving as a director for three-and-a-half years, effective from 24 April. This undertaking restricts his involvement in the establishment, management, or promotion of any company without prior court approval.
Mike Smith, the chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, emphasized that Barnes had a legal obligation to ensure that his company fulfilled its tax obligations, as failure to do so deprives the government of essential revenue needed for public services and infrastructure.
The company’s insolvency left HM Revenue and Customs as its sole creditor, with outstanding amounts of £78,839 in corporation tax and £115,272 in VAT.
Despite a bankruptcy petition filed by HMRC in 2023, it was dismissed by a judge after Barnes settled the debt.
Barnes, who also played for Watford and Newcastle, earned 79 caps for England and later served as head coach at Celtic. In 2022, Liverpool FC appointed him as a club ambassador, a role that involves representing the team domestically and internationally.