John Barnes, the former England and Liverpool midfielder, has been banned as a director after his company failed to pay tens of thousands of pounds in tax. Investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed that, between 2018 and 2020, John Barnes Media Limited failed to pay more than £190,000 in corporation tax and VAT. Barnes, who avoided being made bankrupt last year after settling a personal tax bill of more than £200,000, has signed a disqualification undertaking banning him from being a company director for the next three-and-a-half years. Mike Smith, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Individuals and businesses not paying the tax they should deprives the Government of the funding it needs to provide vital public services and investment in areas such as schools, hospitals and roads. “John Barnes had a legal duty to ensure his company paid the correct amount of corporation tax and VAT. Instead, it paid no tax whatsoever between November 2018 and October 2020, despite receiving earnings of well over £400,000. “This disqualification should serve as a deterrent to other directors that if you do not pay your taxes while directing money elsewhere, you are at risk of being banned.” Barnes, who earned 79...