Notts County 1 Taxman 0

Notts County has succeeded in defending itself from a last-minute, ‘disruptive’ winding-up petition from HMRC at the High Court today and are now considering legal action against the taxman, states Harris & Co Chartered Accountants Northampton

The 150-year-old club was bullishly confident it would win its battle with HMRC, despite only being made aware of the court appearance. The winding-up order concerning alleged unpaid PAYE payments was received only on Friday evening.

According to the details of the order, the money was due on 19 December, but in a statement released by the club, Notts County explained that the winding-up petition “came without any prior notification”.

Speaking prior to the High Court"s decision in favour of the club, a Notts County spokesperson said: ‘The club can state, unequivocally, that the business is completely up to date with all VAT and PAYE monies and that this action is regarded by the Board as both disruptive and damaging.

‘Unfortunately, we had no option other than to instruct legal counsel to represent us, but we fully expect this issue to be resolved in our favour once the judge has before him all the facts.

‘Once this has happened, the Board will be seeking legal advice regarding taking action against HMRC and the officer personally responsible for this and will seek to recover all costs associated with defending the action plus punitive damages for the harm suffered by the Football Club.’

HMRC refused to comment on the case.