A MOBBERLEY wine trading company has been named and shamed after dodging nearly £500,000 in tax.

The Trade Beverage Company was caught out by tax investigators after repeatedly failing to pay up what it owed.

The list highlights ‘deliberate defaulters’ who were found during investigations by HMRC into affairs conducted after April 2010.

It is the first time that a list has been released to the public and HMRC said it was publishing the list as a ‘warning’ to potential defaulters.

The Mobberley-based firm owes the treasury £447,904 and, as a result, now faces a fine of £291,830.

The registered address for the business is in Marrion Drive, but official documents show it is also listed as having an address in Glossop.

David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said: “HMRC is dedicated to clamping down on the small minority of people who break the law, and finding and taking action against tax cheats who try to evade their responsibilities.

“The publication of these names sends a clear signal that cheating on tax is wrong and reassures people who pay their taxes – the vast majority – that there are consequences for those who refuse to tell HMRC about their full liability.

“It also encourages defaulters to make a full and prompt disclosure and co-operate with HMRC to avoid being named.”

When asked why no large corporations appeared on the list, Mr Gauke said that HMRC was taking action to close legal loopholes, and those who promoted aggressive tax avoidance schemes were also being exposed.

The Trade Beverage Company was set up in March 2009, but just over a year later it defaulted on a tax payment.

It did the same in February 2011 and again the following September.

In March 2012 the firm was served with a winding up notice and is now listed as being in liquidation.

On Companies House, the firm is only listed as having one director – John Stewart Cannon – who was appointed in March 2009.

Mr Cannon is also down as a director of Bakewell-based Southworth Groundworks Ltd, which was dissolved as a business on February 19, 2013.

The list produced by the HMRC will be updated every three months.

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