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Pompey offer £1.8 million toward outstanding tax bill

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has pleaded for more time © Getty Images

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Portsmouth have offered £1.8 million on their outstanding tax bill of £7.5 million as they seek to delay the winding-up order issued by HM Revenue & Customs.

Such is the sheer sensitivity and importance of the last round of talks before the winding-up order goes to the High Court on Wednesday, the Revenue has insisted on complete confidentiality around Tuesday's talks with the club.

Soccernet can reveal talks will resume at lunchtime on Tuesday as the club aim to finalise a deal with the Revenue in a final attempt to stave off the winding-up order which could send the club into liquidation.

Portsmouth have continued their frantic negotiations with the Revenue after offering £1.8 million on an outstanding £7.5 million in the hope of avoiding going bust. Pompey may have to pay at least £3 million in order to be given extra time by the Revenue to find all of the money with a firm schedule of payments.

Chief executive Peter Storrie has argued passionately for more time as he is on the brink of bringing in the club's fifth new owners of the season with an Irish/American consortium ready to move into due diligence after talks with the Revenue.

Portsmouth offered to pay up some of the outstanding debt to the Revenue and also made offers to other businesses which planned to join the Revenue's winding-up order on Wednesday. Crisis talks between lawyers for the club and lawyers for the Revenue took place all day on Monday and will spill over into Tuesday.

Pompey would be hit with a nine-point deduction which would virtually write off their slim chances of avoiding relegation if they are pushed into administration by the Revenue, and would become the first Premier League club to do so since the league was formed in 1992.

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