| An online trader has been
jailed for attempting to evade more than
£420,000 of VAT, ahead of the launch of an
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) campaign
targeting people who use e-marketplaces to
buy and sell goods and who fail to pay tax
owed. Gregory Allnutt, aged 40, from
south-east London, was sentenced to 20
months imprisonment at Southwark Crown
Court on 29 November after an
investigation by HMRC. He had pleaded
guilty to 12 counts of fraud.
Allnutt’s home was raided by HMRC
officers in June 2011. Evidence uncovered
proved that from 1 September 2007, he used
a VAT registration number to obtain zero
rated goods from suppliers within the EU
and then sold them on through another
online company, failing to declare and pay
the tax to HMRC.
Mhairi Urquhart, senior lawyer in the
Crown Prosecution Service’s Central Fraud
Group, said: “Gregory Allnutt knew he was
liable to pay VAT when he set up as a
retailer of nutritional products.
“He soon worked out that he could make
a lot more money selling electrical goods
through eBay, and despite knowing that he
was still liable to pay VAT when he did
this, he instead pocketed £429,337 that
was due to HMRC.
In early 2012, HMRC will be launching a
campaign targeting people using
e-marketplaces to buy and sell goods as a
trade or business and who fail to pay the
tax owed and has already begun gathering
information needed to identify individuals
and companies involved in this type of
trade.
LINKS:
HMRC guidance on selling online
|
