Dunfermline Athletic have been formally served with a winding-up order and now have eight days in which to try to prevent the business going into liquidation.

A formal notice of the order, which was served by the Court of Session on behalf of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, should be carried in today's Edinburgh Gazette.

Dunfermline owe £134,000 in unpaid taxes, with another £450,000 due to business creditors. The players are also owed £35,000 in wages from last month, with the March salary run of £95,000 also looming. A rescue proposal has been made by a consortium that yesterday began the due diligence process through the accountancy firm Campbell Dallas.

Little has been revealed about the consortium, which is working with the Steering Group set up by Dunfermline to try to negotiate a takeover with fan groups. However, Herald Sport understands that former Dunfermline director Craig McWhirter is involved with the group.

Their aim is to raise £250,000 to fund the purchase of Gavin Masterton's 94% shareholding. The plan is along similar lines to that proposed by The Pars Community – fans own 50% with further 10% chunks held by non-executive directors – but it is unclear if they have raised the money required.

Even if they do, Dunfermline's situation remains perilous since the stadium and training ground are owned by East End Park Ltd, part of Masterton's Charlestown House group. A commercial lease deal would need to be struck to rent the stadium and training ground, yet the CH group is itself in dire financial straits. It is also unclear what the due diligence process will reveal, and if any other potential liabilities may arise.

The Pars Community withdrew their proposal last week after Masterton missed a deadline set on the negotiations. They are, however, prepared to step in again should the club suffer an insolvency event. Herald Sport revealed last week that the Dunfermline directors were considering placing the club in administration, to stave off the threat of HMRC's winding-up order, but that would have required external funding just to tide the club over to the end of the season.

"The new group obviously understand that dealing with the taxman is a major part of what we've got to achieve, and there's no guarantees, absolutely none," said Bob Garmory of the club's sponsors, Purvis, who is also a member of the Steering Group.

"But we're not talking about carpetbaggers here, we're talking about serious investors who have the best interests of the club at heart.

"The Steering Group met with representatives of the Masterton family and it was confirmed that we were still able to work towards the model that was agreed last Wednesday, which is 100% ownership of the club – 50% owned by the fans and 50% owed by investors."

Masterton remains in Switzerland and Herald Sport also understands that he continues to seek fresh investment in the club himself. However, time is now quickly running out for Dunfermline.