HMRC to veto Plymouth CVA today

HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS is set to vote against a Plymouth FC rescue proposal put forward by administrators.

The football club collapsed earlier this year with Brendan Guilfoyle, Christopher White and John Russell from P&A Partnership appointed joint administrators.

They proposed a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), which proposes to repay creditors a percentage of debt over a contracted period of time. However, a CVA must be voted for by 75% or more, by value, of creditors for approval.

Creditors are due to vote later this afternoon on whether the CVA should go ahead or the club should be liquidated.

An HMRC spokesman said: "We will be voting against the CVA proposal." HMRC's vote against the club is not expected to derail the CVA process.

The taxman is currently engaged in legal battles with both the Premier and Football League over their insolvency rules, which repay football creditors such as players and managers ahead of other creditors.

HMRC believes this is unlawful and is set to face both football leagues in court later this year.

The spokesman said that the decision to vote against Plymouth's CVA today was "consistent with previous CVAs in which such proposals seek to favour one class of unsecured creditor (i.e. in this case football creditors) over another".

The administrators were unavailable for comment at the time of publication.