An engineering boss from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, has been given a seven-year ban from running companies after an Insolvency Service investigation found he had failed to pay the correct tax for four years
Victor Morrell was the sole director of Specmar Ltd, a company that provided engineering support services to the oil and gas industry. It entered into creditors voluntary liquidation in January 2017 due to difficult trading conditions.
After the company was wound up, investigators from the Insolvency Service discovered that between August 2012 and February 2016, Morrell filed inaccurate tax returns on behalf of Specmar and inappropriately claimed input tax on items that were out of scope.
After personal expenses were disallowed, it was calculated that due to the incorrect filing of tax returns, Morrell changed from being a creditor of Specmar in August 2014 to owing the company’s director’s loan account more than £350,000 at liquidation in January 2017.
Robert Clarke, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Directors have a firm duty to ensure they deal properly with tax matters and pay what is due. Taxation revenue provides for the benefit of all and cannot simply be ignored.’
Report by Pat Sweet
