Lawrence Dallaglio, whose tax debt is estimated to be around £700,000, was given extra time to raise the funds at an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing last month, following HMRC’s lodging of a bankruptcy petition against him.

The use of bankruptcy petitions in situations where HMRC is aware that their targets are already attempting to secure the money to pay their tax bill remains a contentious subject.

Rather than acting punitively by seeking to bankrupt such individuals, HMRC could, and should, act with more clemency in cases where they can see concrete steps are being taken to raise funds and repay their debt.