Relief for Carragher! Liverpool legend settles £800,000 tax bill as bankruptcy threat disappears
Jamie Carragher can finally breathe easy. The Liverpool legend has settled his unpaid tax bill with HMRC, and a judge formally dismissed the bankruptcy petition that had hung over the Sky Sports pundit since August.
Details: The case was heard at the Insolvency and Companies Court in London on Tuesday, where Judge Nicholas Briggs dismissed the petition brought by HMRC after being informed that the debt had been paid. No figure was disclosed in court, though the bill was previously reported to be in the region of £700,000 to £800,000. Kevin Hassan, representing HMRC, confirmed the outstanding amount had been settled.
The episode began in late August, when the tax authority filed a bankruptcy petition against Carragher at the High Court. A petition is not the same as being declared bankrupt — it marks the start of court proceedings — but for a man whose face is on television every week, the headlines were unwelcome, to say the least.
Carragher faced the situation with his trademark humour. When CBS Sports host Kate Abdo mocked his 'depleted bank account' on the broadcaster's Champions League coverage, he laughed along and insisted it was 'all paid, all done', later joking: 'They have probably had financial problems, haven't they — well, haven't we all.'
The 48-year-old is one of the most prominent pundits in English football, appearing on Sky Sports' Premier League coverage and CBS Sports' Champions League broadcasts, as well as on Gary Neville's Stick to Football podcast. His spokesperson had maintained throughout that it was 'a private tax matter that should have been resolved sooner', with steps being taken to settle it.
It's worth noting that HMRC has always stressed it petitions for bankruptcy only as a last resort, and that the vast majority of such petitions are resolved before any order is made — exactly how Carragher's case has now ended.
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Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
