Hearts receive winding-up order over tax bill of £450,000

Hearts have received a winding-up order over a tax bill of almost £450,000 relating to unpaid VAT and PAYE contributions.

Hearts launched a £1.79million share issue two weeks ago but the prospectus revealed another tax dispute. HMRC has claimed unpaid tax liabilities in the region of £1.75million relating to loan agreements for a number of players who joined Hearts from Lithuanian club Kaunas, who were then run by Vladimir Romanov, the Tynecastle club's majority shareholder since 2005. Hearts claim the situation was no different to other loan agreements when parent clubs pay some or all of the wages, and will contest the bill at a tribunal this month. The winding-up order is not the first to be issued to Hearts by HMRC. The club announced in February they had paid an outstanding tax bill after being given eight days to pay or face being wound up. Last year, Hearts were forced to pay a bill in the region of £500,000 to defeat a similar order, while others were served in 2009 and 2010. The club have faced growing problems meeting wage bills in the last 12 months and are currently under a Scottish Premier League transfer embargo following consecutive late monthly payments to some players and coaches. The club reduced its wage bill significantly in the summer with a number of experienced players such as Ian Black, Stephen Elliott and David Obua moving on and only one player, Ryan Stevenson, coming in.