On Tuesday, Hardip Singh Khaira, who owned a construction company in Scotland, was banned from acting as a director of a company for 9 years after officials found that he knowingly caused the company to submit false tax returns.

Khaira, 43, was director of HK Construction incorporated in 2011 to provide groundwork construction services, including drainage & concreting. The company traded from its premises in Coatbridge, north Lanarkshire, until July 2019.

In Sept 2019, the company was subject to creditors voluntary liquidation. He is now banned from acting as a director or directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the Court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

According to the Insolvency Service, investigators uncovered that between Nov 2011 & Feb 2015, Khaira knowingly caused the company to submit false tax returns. Some invoices had been brought down to zero-rated sales to reduce the company’s tax liability.

The tax authorities determined that just over £225,000 (Rs 2.22 crore) was owed by the company, which increased to more than £426,000 (Rs 4.2 crore) when interest & penalties were applied for the deliberate concealment & failure to pay.

Aware of the liability owed to the tax authorities, Khaira placed the company into creditors voluntary liquidation, resulting in outstanding liabilities to the tax authorities of more than £426,000.

The secretary of state accepted a disqualification undertaking from Khaira in July after he did not dispute concealing tax to the detriment of the tax authorities.

Robert Clarke, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said that “It was clear from our investigations that Hardip Khaira deliberately caused the construction firm to submit false returns to reduce the amount of tax the company had to pay.”

“This is serious misconduct & a nine-year ban not only demonstrates the severity of what Hardip Khaira has done but also confirms that we will take action to remove the privilege of limited liability against those who think they can do the same”.

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