HMRC hands out £8m in fines for tax evaders

Peninsula Blog

December 01 2022

A recruiter, a pension administrator and a payroll services provider all avoided tax bills totalling £13.8m and face millions of pounds in fines from HMRC

During the month of November, HMRC identified £13.8m in unpaid tax by the businesses and individuals named in the quarterly deliberate defaulters’ list, £3.2m less than the £17m that was identified in the last quarter.

HMRC’s list names over 100 individuals and businesses who have failed to pay their taxes and been identified in the last three months.

In November, the level of penalties handed out amounted to £8m in total for outstanding tax evasion, as HMRC hammered down on deliberate tax defaulters.

At the top of the list of deliberate tax defaulters was a real estate agent who failed to pay a tax bill of £2,695,693 over a four-year period between April 2014 and 2018. Simon Karimzadeh, sole director of Euroland 3, now faces a penalty of £1,227,997 related to income from capital gains.

According to Companies House, Karimzadeh is listed as the director of Euroland 3 Limited, Euroland 2 Limited, and Euroland 1 Limited, which are all still active and trading. The companies buy and sell real estate.

Second place goes to a former technology consultant who failed to pay £993,729.79 in tax payments between April 2010 and 2019. Stephen Bernard Wheatley, former director of Westward Technology Limited and Qorbis Holdings Limited, received penalties amounting to £457,555.08.

In the meantime, a pension administrator failed to pay £729,596 worth of tax between April 2018 and 2020. Based in London, Avril Patricks Stewart Limited entered into compulsory liquidation in February 2011, and was fined £491,831.44 for unpaid tax by HMRC.

A recruitment and payroll service provider has been fined £533,270.96 for tax evasion over a two-year period. Arrow Logistics Ltd, based in London, failed to pay £627,377.61 in tax between April 2020 and 2022.

Bolton-based payroll services provider Ditto Payroll Ltd takes the fourth spot after not paying £542,238 worth of tax between April 2020 and 2022. HMRC handed the business a £515,126.31 fine and the group entered into a creditors voluntary liquidation in April 2021.

In addition, an international telecoms company called Akal Nation Limited based in London avoided paying £381,038 worth of tax between February and July 2019. HMRC handed the business a £220,049.44 fine.

Finally, a printing company based in Bradford avoided £359,358 in tax payments. A&S Printers was fined £211,122.66 by HMRC for tax evasion over a 10-year period, between May 2010 and July 2020.

If you have questions on other HMRC enforcement, visit BrAInbox today where you can find answers to questions like What are the risks of paying less than national minimum wage?

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