Martin Baker was the sole director of CJM Tiling Ltd (CJMT), which was incorporated in 2007 and traded as a construction company in Cradley Heath, West Midlands.
On 3rd December 2015 and 4th March 2016, HM Revenue & Customs officers made unannounced visits to CJMT and identified that the construction company had under-declared its VAT liabilities by failing to disclose all its sales.
Furthermore, an additional bank account was identified where secret sales income was squirreled away. HMRC raised an officer’s assessment for additional VAT liabilities of £205,262 for the period June 2012 to December 2015, as well as applying civil penalties of £90,146 to the company.
CJMT later entered liquidation on 26th January 2017 owing £469,673 to creditors, including at least £344,221 for VAT. Following the company’s liquidation, the Insolvency Service carried out its own investigations, leading to Martin Baker’s disqualification.
The director’s ban means that 50-year-old Martin Baker cannot promote, manage, or be a director of a limited company.
Commenting on the disqualification, Jane Knight, deputy head of insolvency investigations for the Insolvency Service, said: “Under-declaration of the VAT due by a company deprives the exchequer of the monies needed to provide public services. In co-operation with HMRC, the Insolvency Service will not hesitate to investigate such misconduct with disqualification as a director the likely outcome.”
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