Former Liverpool star John Barnes has been banned as a company director for three-and-a-half years after his media firm failed to pay £190,000 in VAT and corporation tax. The John Barnes Media Limited company went into liquidation in 2023 and an investigation by the Insolvency Service found that no tax was paid to HM Revenue and Customs between November 2018 and October 2020.

During that time the company’s turnover was £441,798 and the company filing returns outlined what VAT payments should have been made. An investigation by the Insolvency Service, which began in September 2023, found that the company failed to pay £78839 in corporation tax between August 2018 and January 2020 and also failed to pay £115,272 in VAT between February 2019 and 2020.

An Insolvency Service statement read: “The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Barnes, and his ban started on Wednesday 24 April. “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. Last year a bankruptcy petition lodged by HMRC against Barnes was dismissed.

He has been a club ambassador for several years. Barnes expressed his feelings about money and bills, stating, “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.” *Join our new WhatsApp community* *and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content.

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