A Dundee hotel boss fined more than £28,000 by HMRC claims he was unable to file an accurate tax return after his computer was damaged by floods.
Santanu Roy Chowdhury owns the Tayview Hotel and Restaurant on Broughty Ferry Road.
The UK Government this month published its list of “tax defaulters”, who have been fined for avoiding payment of tax owed to the Treasury.
They calculated Chowdhury and his company Five Fingers Hospitality Ltd defaulted on taxes worth £35,868.
As such, they fined him £28,694, which he has to pay on top of the money owed to the public purse.
They also listed his company on a publicly available list of companies fined by the government for not paying sums due.
Water damage lead to hotel tax default
HMRC alleged the deliberate tax default incurred by Mr Chowdhury took place between April 6 2020 to April 5 2021 — the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Chowdhury told The Courier he had difficulties providing his return during that period because of a flood which destroyed his computer.
He added the money had been paid.
“HMRC gave me two options. One, they put a lock on my business and shut us down.
“I have staff who are all local, my family, my business is my bread and butter. So I took some time, spoke to them and said I needed time.
“So I got the loan, and paid it off and gave the money to them.
“I could have run away and closed the business, but I am not that type of person. I have staff. I have a business. I have a reputation to maintain. So I paid it to them.
“We had a flood, it damaged both of our computer. This computer is what I stored my details and sales receipts on.”
HMRC ‘committed to making sure people pay tax’
HMRC would not comment on individual cases, they said.
An HMRC spokesperson added: “We are committed to making sure people pay the tax they owe.
“For the minority who refuse to pay, we have a range of tools available, and we are able to publish the names of those penalised under civil procedures for deliberately defaulting on certain tax obligations.
“This is about influencing behaviour by encouraging defaulters to engage with us.”
More than 500 businesses are listed on the gov.uk website as deliberate tax defaulters, owing more than £25,000 to HMRC.
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