Former Liverpool and England player turned pundit Jamie Carragher faces being declared bankrupt over an unpaid tax bill, said to be in the region of £700,000 and £800,000.
Documents seen by the BBC show that a case was filed against James Lee Duncan Carragher on Wednesday.
The ‘bankruptcy petition’ filed by lawyers representing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was first reported by City AM.
A spokesperson for HMRC told BBC Sport that it did not comment on individual cases, but a spokesperson added: “We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and do everything we can to help those who engage with us to get out of debt, such as offering instalment plans.
“We only petition for bankruptcy as a last resort.”
Carragher, who played for Liverpool between 1996 and 2013, regularly appears on Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage, the Stick To Football show and CBS Sports’ Champions League programming.
A spokesperson for Carragher told BBC Sport: “This is a private tax matter that should have been resolved sooner, and the appropriate steps are being taken today to settle it. It is understood that the matter will not proceed any further and will be resolved imminently.”
Carragher is not the only footballer who has run into tax issues in his post-playing career.
Former England internationals David James, Wes Brown and Lee Hendrie have all been declared bankrupt, while former Liverpool team-mate Emile Heskey lost a legal battle over an unpaid £1.637m tax bill in 2024.
In 2025, Trevor Sinclair was made bankrupt after failing to pay a tax bill of more than £36,000. In the same year, Shaun Wright-Phillips was petitioned for bankruptcy by HMRC at London’s High Court.
Last September, it was revealed that up to 200 footballers may have lost tens of millions of pounds, with some losing their homes and being made bankrupt.
Former England midfielder Danny Murphy – now a Match of the Day pundit – believes he lost roughly £5m because of “financial abuse”.
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