How can managing directors be banned by HMRC?

July 15, 2022

Nearly 180 Managing Directors were banned due to abuse of Covid-Relief.

Law enforcers are catching people who have violated Covid-specific schemes. With due action, around 179 firm managers have been prohibited by the  Insolvency Service. However, only one such individual has been put into legal custody. 

Around 179 firm managers in the U.K. have had their license to run firms, cancelled. This is because they had violated the scopes of welfare schemes introduced by the Government such as CBILs and furlough.

Until 31st of March 2022, 140 businessmen were cancelled, as they had performed fraudulent activity with loan plans and furlough. The latter 37 were banned in the months of April and May 2022. 

A ban is a lesser penalty that can be imposed on a firm manager. 

Firm managers that have been caught for fraud could encounter drastic judgements by law, which could hamper their own life as well as that of their near and dear ones.

Firm managers can also be said to be personally responsible for any debt that a firm incurs. This is especially true in instances when firm managers have misused business loans for their own private expenditures.

As of now, only one such director has been imprisoned.

From now on, firm managers or authoritative personnel who have misused Covid-specific grants or government plans shall have to think about what to do next. If they admit themselves and surrender to the law, it would be the sensible thing to do, as they could be given a chance to be forgiven for serious judiciary outcomes.

From the timeframe of 1st of March 2020 until the 31st of December 2021, the government submitted a bulk amount of £79.3bn through their schemes for Covid relief, as an aid to businesses. 

HMRC has stated that fraudulent activity on such funding has made the taxpayers lose out on a minimum amount of £ 5 billion. 

Did you know?

  • Quite a few firm managers and directors set up new (although unnecessary) just so they could retrieve Covid bounce-back loans.
  • Similarly, firms inflated their revenue just so they could get an increased amount in loans.
  • Misusing the furlough scheme was among the fraud actions committed. Here, an employer acted to furlough people, just to make claims as per the scheme. However, they laid claims without even doing so, as such employers claimed benefits on the bases of staff members who did not even exist, and displayed false work hours as 'proof'.

Thankfully, the Insolvency Service and HMRC are now making an active vigilance on people who have committed fraud on the covid relief financial policies by the government. 

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