Three individuals and companies in the North East have been named and shamed by HMRC for almost £108,000 worth of unpaid tax between them.

HMRC publishes details every three months of people and businesses given financial penalties for failing to comply with tax obligations or deliberately filing errors in tax returns.

Details are only released when a person or business has made at least one deliberate default on more than £25,000.

The latest list was released this week.

Among those named and shamed was tax consulting firm Genie Tax Solutions Ltd, based in Morpeth, Northumberland. The firm was charged whopping penalties of more than £30,000 for defaulted tax spanning two years.

And Middlesbrough builder Thomas John Swales was charged penalties of more than £33,000 for defaulted tax.

In total £107,929.32 of defaulted tax was racked up by three businesses or individuals in our region.

Here are the names of those named and shamed on the list published this week:

Thomas John Swales

Swales, formerly of 12 Sowerby Crescent in Stokesley, Middlesbrough defaulted on £50,900.26 worth of tax between April 2018 and April 2023.

The builder was charged penalties of £33,721.40.

Genie Tax Solutions Ltd

Tax consultants Genie Tax Solutions should have known better than to default on £30,817.06 of unpaid tax.

The firm, formerly based out of Office 4B in Sanderson Arcade in Morpeth, defaulted on the amount during a two-year period between April 2020 and April 2022, and was charged penalties of the entire amount.

Recommended reading:

Get more from The Northern Echo with a digital subscription. Get access for one month for just £1, or get 30% off an annual subscription with our latest offer. Click here.

Lee Hardwick

Hartlepool man Lee Hardwick, formerly 71 Easington Road, 260 Owton Moor Lane and 34 Whin Gardens in the town, failed to pay £26,212 of tax on income from employment between April 2010 and April 2016, and again from April 2017 to the same month in 2021.

Hardwick was charged penalties totalling £17,365.42.

*The information above was listed on the government website on the day this story was published.