Portsmouth will learn on Thursday whether the tax authorities have succeeded in their High Court bid to overturn their Company Voluntary Arrangement on the grounds that the amount owed to Revenue and Customs was underestimated and hence their vote on the CVA was affected. In Court learned counsel for the taxman argued that Portsmouth was operating a ‘sham’ arrangement to avoid tax.
Portsmouth will learn on Thursday whether the tax authorities have succeeded in their High Court bid to overturn their Company Voluntary Arrangement on the grounds that the amount owed to Revenue and Customs was underestimated and hence their vote on the CVA was affected. In Court learned counsel for the taxman argued that Portsmouth was operating a ‘sham’ arrangement to avoid tax.
The worst case scenario for Pompey is that the CVA is overturned, they are deducted 15-20 points and are liquidated. What the tax authorities really object to is the rule that gives football creditors preferential treatment and the Portsmouth case offers them the opportunity to make their point. The club’s tax affairs do not appear to have always been run in accordance with the highest standards of probity.