NOTTINGHAM Forest's High Court case has been adjourned again, after the club argued that they had settled their outstanding tax bill.
The taxman had sought a winding up order, over an alleged debt of around £1.8m – which was backed by Midas Sports Management, which itself claims to be owed more than £35,000.
Registrar Clive Jones gave the Championship club one more chance to prove they had settled the matter.
He adjourned the case until Thursday (July 31) after being told by Nottingham Forest's lawyers that its tax debt is disputed, and may have arisen from "confusion" on the part of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs over sums that have been paid, and whether they apply to past debt or taxes not yet due.
Lawyers for HMRC had pushed for a "compulsory order" winding up the Championship club, claiming that, though the original tax debt has been reduced from £1.8m to £999,003, further debts of around £1.29m have mounted up in addition.
But lawyers for the club say that payments of £1.2m have not been taken into account, and that the petition debt has been paid in full.
The registrar said that in the "unusual circumstances" of the case, and the "very large sums" involved, the club should be given the opportunity to provide further evidence that its debt had been paid.
Now the matter will return before him on Thursday.
At a previous hearing, HMRC took over a winding up petition initially brought by Le Bistro, a subsidiary of stadium caterers Elior. Le Bistro's debt was paid, but HMRC successfully obtained an order for "substitution" as petitioning creditor.
In February, the club successfully saw a previous petition brought by Impact Sports Management at the London court dismissed by Registrar Barber.
