Hearts expect to complete payment of £100,000 tax bill

BBC Scotland has learned Hearts have paid the majority of the £100,000 they owe HMRC in unpaid PAYE.

And the club expect to pay the remainder in the near future.

The Tynecastle outfit had until 17:00 BST on Tuesday to settle the bill to avoid being issued with a winding-up order.

Hearts paid HMRC £450,000 in December and negotiated a repayment plan for a separate £1.5m tax bill, the first instalment of which has been met.

The Edinburgh club face uncertainty with a debt of £25m - £10m of which is due to their parent company, UBIG, which is claiming insolvency, and £15m to Ukio Bankas, which has been officially declared bankrupt.

They avoided a potential points deduction when the SPL ruled last month that it was not satisfied UBIG had suffered an "insolvency event" during season 2012-13.

However, if any club defaults on tax then a player registration embargo is applied until such times as the matter is resolved.