Hearts insist that they will pay an outstanding £100,000 tax bill and avoid being served a winding up order.
The club has seven days to settle the debt with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, having failed to meet their PAYE payments.
Should Hearts fail to raise the money to meet the bill in time, they will face a Scottish Premier League signing embargo – it is an automatic sanction under the SPL rules and will apply until the debt is finally settled – as well as the winding up order. The club managed to avoid a similar outcome over an outstanding £450,000 bill last December, and the message from the board yesterday was that this crisis will also be averted.
"We are in dialogue with HMRC and expect to make payment in the very near future," said a Hearts spokesman to BBC Scotland. The HMRC bill is only the latest in a series of financial concerns for the club, with UBIG, the majority shareholder Hearts Football Club plc, currently claiming to be insolvent and UKIO Bankas, who have a £15m debt held against the stadium, now bankrupt. Hearts also owe UBIG £10m, although they avoided a points penalty for that company's potential insolvency when the SPL ruled last month that prior to the final day of the 2012/13 season, UBIG's financial state did not constitute administration.
If that fate does befall the company, of which Vladimir Romanov was the major shareholder, over the summer Hearts will start next season with a points deduction. In the meantime, Romanov is trying to find a buyer for the club, although negotiations are complicated by the circumstances of UBIG and UKIO Bankas in Lithuania. The Tynecastle board currently hope that commercial income and season ticket sales will allow them to trade through the coming months and deal with the HMRC bill, although a recent share issue was used to begin the funding of a payment plan another £1.5m tax bill.
Hearts supporters groups are trying to devise a rescue plan, while parties from abroad are also said to be interested in buying the club. However, the current focus is on trying to ensure fans continue to underwrite the club's existence by buying season tickets. With the threat of the winding up order looming, Sergejus Fedotovas, a Tynecastle director, sent a letter to supporters last weekend urging them to back their club, even though they have always done so and did not cause the problems that it currently faces. He also insisted that Hearts hope to have resolved all of their financial issues, and perhaps also the ownership situation, by the beginning of next season.
"Looking forward, we are aiming to resolve all the financial issues before the campaign kicks-off in August and will dedicate special attention to the football planning with a view to improving results for next season," said Fedotovas in a personal letter to supporters who have yet to commit to renewing their season tickets.
"The board aims to resolve the ownership and debt situation before the new season starts and we're also aiming to reshape the team to improve the areas we feel have been lacking. We have already started speaking to players who want to play for Hearts, play a positive part in this club's great history and nurture our young players. We must, however, do this in a prudent way and preserve the club for generations to come."
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