A total of 109 companies from across the UK are on the latest deliberate defaulters list, owing HMRC a grand total of £201m, split between £123m in tax and £79m in penalties, up from £138m last quarter, including recurring payroll company Hive 360, which owes the lion’s share, software developers, caterers, newsagents, landlords, and a dentist and bookkeeper. In each case, the taxpayer failed to fully disclose their default at the outset of an investigation.

Blackburn based Ancient and Modern Jewellers Limited, retailers of watches and jewellery, owe £5m in tax and £2.8m in penalties for a four-year period from June 2014 to August 2018. Now in liquidation, the statement of affairs showed HMRC as the biggest creditor due to the outstanding VAT bill, while the business, which has two directors, had total debts of £8m when it went bust.