Southend United given time to clear £275,000 tax debt

Judge Mark Mullen made his decision after considering arguments from lawyers at an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing in London.
A lawyer representing the National League club said efforts were being made to clear the debt (Stephen Pond/PA)
PA Archive
Brian Farmer17 May 2023
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Non-league Southend United have been given time to clear a £275,000 tax debt after a judge in a specialist court was told that a sale of the football club was under way.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had issued a winding-up petition, but Judge Mark Mullen gave Southend bosses time to pay after considering arguments from lawyers at an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing in London on Wednesday.

A lawyer representing the National League club said efforts were being made to clear the debt and Judge Mullen said the case would be reconsidered on July 12.

Barrister Hilary Stonefrost told the judge that a sale of the club was under way and that “progress had been made”.

She said the petition debt was £275,000.

HMRC has issued a number of winding-up petitions against Southend over unpaid tax in recent years and Judge Mullen said there seemed to be “something of a rolling process”.

But he said he was overseeing the first hearing of the latest petition and added: “There is evidence before me which suggests it could be paid within a reasonable period of time.”

Southend, who dropped out of the Football League at the end of the 2020/21 season, featured in an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing in March, after HMRC issued an earlier winding-up petition over unpaid tax.

Another judge was told that that debt had been cleared and a club spokesman said then that “monies owed to HMRC” under that petition had been “paid in full”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in