Pub operator banned for 11 years after £7.9m in unpaid taxes

Kirpal Rathaur was appointed director of Edward & Moore when the company was incorporated in September 2009.

His disqualification, effective from 20 May 2019, means that he will be unable to act as a director of a company, take part – directly or indirectly – in promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership, or be a receiver of a company’s property for 11 years.

Liabilities of £7.9m

An investigation by the Insolvency Service into Edward & Moore was triggered by the company entering liquidation in November 2018, owing creditors close to £6.9m.

Investigators found that between February 2010 and November 2014, Rathaur caused Edward & Moore to submit inaccurate returns to the tax authorities resulting in a shortfall of close to £7m.

Moreover, the investigation revealed that in March 2015 Rathaur falsely removed the company from the business tax list leading to Edward & Moore running up total liabilities of £7.9m.

On top of this, it was found that Rathaur failed to maintain or preserve accounting records for the life of the company meaning it’s been impossible to establish what happened to the £7.9m in unpaid taxes, exactly how much was owed to creditors including the tax authorities, or how much money Rathaur withdrew from the company.

Substantial ban

“Directors cannot pick and choose which taxes they want to pay but this did not deter Kirpal Rathaur from avoiding paying business duty that he rightfully owed,” Martin Gitner, deputy head of investigations at the Insolvency Service explained.

“An 11-year disqualification is a substantial ban, seriously curtailing Kirpal Rathaur’s ability to run companies, and demonstrates our commitment to investigate and ban those directors who abuse the tax systems and their responsibilities.”