An agent of HMRC took control of
IGB
on 18 January as part of its VAT carousel fraud crackdown. However, a High Court
judge last week discharged the freeze order, concluding there was insufficient
evidence to justify the move.
David Hinc, head of managed services at
Unique,
said it was inevitable that IGB would now take action against HMRC.
“This has severely affected IGB’s operational capabilities, although other parts
of its business were more affected than us,” said Hinc.
According to sources close to the events, the HMRC agent had planned to sell
Unique and other parts of IGB. One distribution source said: “The HMRC receiver
approached us and gave us a deadline of 15 February to bid for Unique, which was
too short notice for us.”
Anthony Elliot-Square, director of industry body the
Federation
of Technological Industries, said: “One hopes that HMRC will take note of
this and start abiding by the law.
It is over-extending its powers in
the grey market, which is forcing companies to take it to court and has caused
many companies to go into administration.”
A representative from the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO), told
CRN: “The RCPO does not take decisions to apply for management
receivership orders lightly and we understand that there is still a restraint
order in place, which IGB has not mentioned [in its press release].”
Livewire
court ruling leaves HMRC reeling
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