The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found the appellant, Aqsa Khan, the sole director of Best Buy Scot Limited, Glasgow, personally liable to pay 100% of a penalty issued to Best Buy Scot Limited, a company where she was sole director.

HMRC had issued the personal liability notice (PLN) to the company under Schedule 24 to Finance Act 2007. The penalty was for a total of £1,492,869, being 70% of the amount of VAT that HMRC considered Best Buy Scot failed to declare in the VAT returns filed for the VAT periods 11/20, 02/21 and the final period to 27 April 2021.

The issue arose as a result of suspected missing trader fraud involving metal trading, with HMRC arguing VAT returns filed by the company for relevant periods contained inaccuracies. Having reviewed bundles of evidence, the tribunal found the inaccuracy in the tax returns was ‘deliberate and attributable to the director’.

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