Hearts agree tax settlement

Scottish Premier League side Hearts announced on Tuesday that they have agreed a resolution with Britain's tax authorities in a dispute over tax and national insurance contributions. The Edinburgh club launched a scheme to raise £1.79 million ($2.89 million, 2.2 million euros) in October after a share issue brochure revealed that they owed £1.75 million to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HRMC) department. They have now reached an agreement to pay £1.5 million over a three-year period. The deal is separate from a bill of £450,000 paid on Monday that prevented the club from being threatened with a winding-up order. The shortfall resulted from the loan of players to Hearts from Lithuanian club Kaunas, who are controlled by the Scottish club's majority shareholder, Russian businessman Vladimir Romanov. "We are satisfied that this resolution provides the club with an opportunity to now move forward with certainty," said Hearts director Sergejus Fedotovas in a statement on the club's website. "We believe that the payment terms agreed with HMRC allow the club to manage repayments in a way that will not be detrimental to longer-term development of the club." Hearts have raised more than £600,000 since the share issue scheme was launched, but Fedotovas has called for further support.