Drinks wholesaler Kamros Cash and Carry, based in Basildon, Essex deliberately defaulted on £3.4million in tax between September 2012 and August 2016 according to HMRC.

The firm was subsequently fined more than £2.1million and ‘named and shamed’ by HMRC in its latest list of deliberate tax defaulters.

According to a January 2021 report by liquidators charged with dissolving Kamros, the wholesaler had been appealing several VAT judgements and HMRC’s refusal to grant the drinks wholesaler the right to sell alcohol under the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme. Accounts by the liquidator claim more than £7.5million was still owed to HMRC.

The quarterly lists by HMRC of deliberate tax defaulters detail individuals or businesses that have been fined more than £25,000 or charged with offences related to deliberate tax return errors or deliberately failing to comply with tax obligations.

Out of 92 firms named in the June instalment of the list, two local shops and two cash and carries were identified. The two shops were found to have tax gaps of £500,762 and £31,749.49, each was fined just under half the value of the tax gap.

The other wholesaler, London-registered confectionery specialist Yildiz Import Enterprise Ltd was found to have defaulted on £1.4million in tax between October 2016 and May 2019. It was subsequently fined nearly £1million by HMRC.