Two Ipswich takeaways named and shamed by HMRC for unpaid tax

Why it matters: The public naming is part of HMRC's strategy to encourage tax compliance by highlighting businesses that have deliberately defaulted on significant tax obligations.

The details: HMRC's Publishing Details of Deliberate Defaulters scheme targets individuals and businesses that have been handed financial penalties for failing to comply with tax obligations or deliberately filing errors in their tax returns. Details are published when a person or business has made at least one deliberate default on more than £25,000.

Ipswich Pizza Ltd, formerly known as Pizza Gogo (Halal) Ltd and trading as Pizza Gogo, was charged penalties of £28,845 on £34,963 of defaulted tax. The company is listed as being in liquidation. The period of default was between 6 April 2020 and 5 April 2022.

Pizza Gogo is now operated by LD UK Group Ltd, which took over the restaurant following its liquidation. LD UK Group Ltd have not been listed by the HMRC's Publishing Details of Deliberate Defaulters scheme.

Chapati Indian Takeaway Ltd, trading as Indian Village on Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, has been charged penalties of £102,101 on almost £170,168 of defaulted tax. The period of default was between 1 March 2021 and 31 January 2023.

For context: The list is updated every three months, and the information is wiped after a year.

The bottom line: HMRC's public naming scheme continues to target local businesses that fail to meet their tax obligations, with two Ipswich takeaway companies owing more than £200,000 in unpaid tax and facing penalties of almost £131,000 for deliberate defaults spanning multiple years.