UK man gets bombarded with taxes for 11,000 foreign companies | World news
In a shocking incident, a British man in Wales Cardiff, UK received a lot of unpaid taxes, which is 5,00,000 pounds from 11,000 companies, mostly from China behind these companies used his residential address to register for VAT, the BBC reported.
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Dylan Davies, the recipient of these bills from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) went to check his mailbox last November, where he found a plethora of brown envelopes. He soon swam Davies in comparison by the amount that continued to flood over the next six months. He raised the matter with the police and HMRC but only brown letters were forthcoming, the report added.
He said the “terrible” situation has left him even more worried at the sight of bailiffs who could be “taking the door down.”
According to financial crime consultant Graham Barrow as reported by the BBC, the case is suspected as fraudulent activity from overseas companies. “It looks to all intents and purposes like VAT fraud,” he said.
Barrow also urged HMRC to “strengthen” the VAT registration process for foreign companies.
Subsequently, the head of HMRC took note of the matter when MPs sitting on the Commons general accounts committee raised the issue. Jim Harra, the head of HMRC in his response said that in the ongoing investigations “so far he has found no evidence of fraud or fraudulent intent” related to the incident, according to a report by the Independent.
Harra, however, admitted that 11,000 companies had changed their registered address to that of Davies in a six-month period, and said that 2,356 of the businesses owed tax, the report added.
According to HMRC data, around 70% of companies registered on Davies’ address are operated on online markets, which provide data to the taxman. There is no record that the remaining 30% have sold goods in the UK or have any outstanding VAT to pay.
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Meanwhile, a spokesperson from HMRC said, “We are reviewing our procedures for managing high volume address changes, including understanding any weaknesses in our systems associated with this behaviour.”
