GB-Gadgets Ltd appealed against the penalty, which totalled £46,726.79, issued by HMRC on the basis that they had unpaid VAT from 1 September 2013 to 31 March 2018. 

The business, which imported goods for resale online, also appealed against an inaccuracy penalty of £8,588 related to the VAT that was due for the periods 06/18 to 01/20. This penalty was suspended.

On 27 December 2017, Kashif Waseem transferred all of the ordinary shares of the business to Zubair Hussain and later appointed him as sole director on 10 January 2018.

According to Hussain, Waseem had told him that GB-Gadgets opened its first bank account in September 2016. It registered for VAT with effect from 1 April 2018.