John Barnes has been repaying HMRC since 2017 after heavy losses from poorly advised investments. He has repaid around £2.2 million and continues to pay £10,000 each month under agreed arrangements. Barnes lost between £1m and £1.5m over four years due to bad advice. He has challenged bankruptcy petitions in court to seek permission to continue payments rather than walk away from obligations. Barnes states he has no assets left and has sold everything. He criticises press coverage as misleading and says negative headlines have harmed his speaking engagements in banking and financial services.
"I got caught out a couple of times and ended up losing between £1m and £1.5m over four years," he said. "In 2017, I began talking to HMRC about what I could do to repay what I owed."
"It would be easy to be made bankrupt because they can't take anything else from me," Barnes said. "But I don't want hardworking people thinking I've got all this money and I won't pay tax. I don't have any assets left - I've already sold everything."
"Every time something new comes up, stories appear in the press saying negative things about how I am not paying my taxes, even though I'm going to court not to be made bankrupt, but to ask for permission to keep paying," he said.
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