Heidi Annette Saunders, 59, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, was a director of Daniel Paper & Packaging Limited (DP&P) and failed to file VAT returns for 13 consecutive VAT quarters from November 2018 to November 2021.

Following an Insolvency Service investigation triggered by a winding up petition by HMRC, extensive abuse of the tax system was discovered with no VAT paid for a three-year period as well as various other taxes unpaid.

Saunders has been banned from acting as a director for three and a half years until 2027.

VAT was not the only tax avoided; Saunders failed to make corporation tax payments from January 2019 to March 2022 when DP&P went into administration and did not pay HMRC penalties and interest payments for overdue tax.

Following a discovery assessment, HMRC sent Saunders a VAT bill for £82,404, and charged penalties and interest of £10,390, bringing the tax bill to £92,794. A further £63,631 was owed in PAYE related taxes and £22,307 in corporation tax.

DP&P was set up in November 1997 and the company was dissolved in July 2023.

When the company went into administration in March 2022, Opus Restructuring LLP confirmed that the entire amount of £92,794 remained outstanding. The earliest assessed VAT liability was for the VAT quarter ended 11/18 which fell overdue for payment to HMRC on 8 January 2019.

DP&P owed unsecured creditors £256,143 of which £156,101 was owed to HMRC for VAT, corporation tax, penalties and interest.

The company's bank statements showed that between 14 January 2019 to 29 March 2022 at least £2,418,161 was paid to various parties of which at least £1,912,554 was paid to connected companies.

Despite having substantial funds in the company’s bank accounts, over the same period nothing was paid to HMRC in respect of its VAT liabilities.