A LUXURY watch company in Jesmond has been fined £360,000 for not paying more than £500,000 in taxes.

Watchtraderuk Limited, which was based at Acorn Road in Jesmond and also worked from a unit at Coopies Lane, Morpeth, was named and shamed in the Government's latest list of 'deliberate tax defaulters'.

It said between March 1 2019 to Nov 30 2019 Watchtrader missed out on paying £514,994 in tax - leading to a fine of £360,495.80.

A spokesperson for the company said it was an ongoing issue over how VAT was paid on second-hand watches. He said: "It is regarding the VAT Margin Scheme (which taxes the difference between what you paid for an item and what you sold it for, rather than the full selling price) and is being revised and settled.

Read more: Amazon's astonishing tax bill

"It's not the sort of image we want to portray but we are pleased it is now being resolved."

The Riverside Tenpin Bowling alley in Sunderland was fined more than £120,000 for not paying £226,482.67.

A member of staff at the bowling alley declined to comment when contacted by The Northern Echo.

The full list of businesses caught in the tax trap in our area is:

Tony William Brown  (gas worker) Formerly of 11 Wharton Street, Coundon, Bishop Auckland, DL14 8PD. From 6 Apr 2016 to 5 Apr 2019 the tax due was £37,996.

Penalty: £18,618.03.

Andrew David Brown (Rendering) of 11 Wharton Street, Coundon, Bishop Auckland, DL14 8PD. From 6 Apr 2017 to 5 Apr 2020 the tax due was £29,031.

Penalty: £16,020.77         

Riverside Tenpin Bowling (Bowling alley) of  4 Duoro Terrace, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, SR2 7DX. From 1 Mar 2014 to 28 Feb 2019 tax due was £226,482.67.

Penalty: £127,396.39      

Mahe Rahman (Restaurant formerly trading as ‘Saffron’) formerly of 16 Market Place, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5BG. From 1 Sep 2012 to 31 May 2019 tax due was £79,698.

Penalty: £50,209.74         

Watchtraderuk Limited (Purchase and sale of second-hand luxury watches) formerly of 58 Acorn Road, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 2DJ and Unit 4A Coopies Lane, Morpeth, NE61 6JT. From 1 Mar 2019 to 30 Nov 2019 tax due was £514,994.

Penalty: £360,495.80

 

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated North Yorkshire Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054