A Birmingham-based ‘independent tax adviser’ was jailed for 18 months at Worcester Crown Court after pleading guilty to charges of cheating the public revenue.
A Birmingham-based ‘independent tax adviser’ was jailed for 18 months at Worcester Crown Court after pleading guilty to charges of cheating the public revenue. David Douglass, aged 46, of Hollywood, Birmingham, was a regulated financial adviser specialising in investment portfolios and pensions, HMRC said.
FTAdviser.com reported that according to the Financial Conduct Authority’s register, Douglass was registered with Honiston Partners ‘until July 2012 when the network went into administration’.
And HMRC investigation found that for 13 years Douglass ‘failed to declare his income or pay the tax due on earnings of more than £1 million’. HMRC is now taking ‘confiscation action’.
Adrian Farley, assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC, said: ‘It was pure greed that motivated Douglass to abuse his position as a trusted tax adviser, solely to line his own pockets and enjoy a lifestyle beyond his means. He advised his clients on how much tax they were due to pay, while ignoring his own advice by taking his fee without putting it through the company books or paying anything to HMRC on his own income.’
A Birmingham-based ‘independent tax adviser’ was jailed for 18 months at Worcester Crown Court after pleading guilty to charges of cheating the public revenue.
A Birmingham-based ‘independent tax adviser’ was jailed for 18 months at Worcester Crown Court after pleading guilty to charges of cheating the public revenue. David Douglass, aged 46, of Hollywood, Birmingham, was a regulated financial adviser specialising in investment portfolios and pensions, HMRC said.
FTAdviser.com reported that according to the Financial Conduct Authority’s register, Douglass was registered with Honiston Partners ‘until July 2012 when the network went into administration’.
And HMRC investigation found that for 13 years Douglass ‘failed to declare his income or pay the tax due on earnings of more than £1 million’. HMRC is now taking ‘confiscation action’.
Adrian Farley, assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC, said: ‘It was pure greed that motivated Douglass to abuse his position as a trusted tax adviser, solely to line his own pockets and enjoy a lifestyle beyond his means. He advised his clients on how much tax they were due to pay, while ignoring his own advice by taking his fee without putting it through the company books or paying anything to HMRC on his own income.’
