Reading placed under transfer embargo after failing to make HMRC payment

Reading’s cash crisis is under further scrutiny after the League One club were placed under a transfer embargo for failing to pay HMRC on time.

After missing another deadline for the tax bill to be paid, Reading will be placed under restrictions by the Football League and are also facing a fourth winding up order in another embarrassment for owner Dai Yongge.

Reading are also in danger of sustaining another points deduction if they fail to pay wages to players and staff this Friday.

Yongge is under huge pressure to sell up after racking up 16 points in deductions for breaching the EFL’s financial rules. Fans are set to protest this weekend during the home match against Burton Albion, as Yongge’s turbulent tenure lurches from one crisis to another.

However, it is understood that at least three parties have registered interest in buying the club in recent weeks. One of those parties is advanced in negotiations but the main concern is how the points deductions are having an adverse effect on the club’s valuation.

Yongge, who is based in China, is struggling to move money into England due to the government imposing limits on capital and he was charged last week with misconduct. Yongge has been charged directly by the EFL after he failed to deposit 125 per cent of the wage bill into an allocated account.

The failure to pay HMRC on time - which was understood to have been a date last week - will result in a transfer embargo.

It will be the third time Reading have failed to pay their tax bill on time, with the club threatened with a third winding up order in June.

Reading were relegated from the Championship last season and are currently 22nd in the third tier after having four points deducted.