A company director from Cheshire who paid trade creditors ahead of £90,000 in outstanding tax liabilities when his business went into liquidation has been disqualified for three years and six months following an investigation by the Insolvency Service
Barry Cooperman was the sole director of Platinum Resources Ltd trading as La Rioja, a restaurant in Altrincham.
The company was placed into liquidation in July 2012 with estimated bills to creditors in excess of £178,000 and outstanding VAT and PAYE bills totalling £90,000.
The Insolvency Service found that Cooperman had unfairly discriminated against HMRC by choosing to pay the company’s trade creditors instead of the company’s tax liabilities, between March 2008 and April 2011, when the company ceased to trade.
Robert Clarke, group head of insolvency investigations north at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Company directors have a duty to ensure businesses meet their legal obligations, including paying taxes.
'Deliberate neglect of tax affairs is not a victimless action as it deprives the taxpayer of the funds needed to operate public services and introduces unfair competition in the business market.’
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