Could Derby County go into Liquidation ?

[Brin]

If this can't be resolved then why not jail the owner(s) for defrauding the HMRC on a such a grand scale. What about the likes of Lester Piggott etc who were jailed for tax evasion? surely Morris and his board should face the same dilemma.

Good call on failure to pay should see Derby kicked out of the Leagues and banished to the lower leagues ala Rangers.

GET THE MESSAGE SENT OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL!

[KerrAvon]

There's a world of difference between failing to pay a tax bill and defrauding the tax man.

Defrauding involves deliberately misleading or concealing relevant information from the taxman.

If you are going to clamp down on tax fraud then I can pretty much guarantee that there will be people on here who have aided and abetted such behaviour by agreeing a 'cash price' with a tradesperson.

[Brin]

There's a world of difference between failing to pay a tax bill and defrauding the tax man.

Defrauding involves deliberately misleading or concealing relevant information from the taxman.

If you are going to clamp down on tax fraud then I can pretty much guarantee that there will be people on here who have aided and abetted such behaviour by agreeing a 'cash price' with a tradesperson.

Okay, let's remove the word fraud like you say. Answer me this question though, (According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2020, Morris is said to have amassed a fortune of £515m, making him the joint 268th richest person in the UK, and the joint 11th richest in the East Midlands), for a man worth all that amount of money, should he held accountable for refusing to pay his share of the tax bill and risk going to jail if he refuses to pay it off?

[flourbasher]

In the last 18 months two different companies have supplied me goods and services and then tried to charge me VAT when they aren't even VAT registered.
Both couldn't produce a valid VAT number.
Fraud

[CAMiller]

Okay, let's remove the word fraud like you say. Answer me this question though, (According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2020, Morris is said to have amassed a fortune of £515m, making him the joint 268th richest person in the UK, and the joint 11th richest in the East Midlands), for a man worth all that amount of money, should he held accountable for refusing to pay his share of the tax bill and risk going to jail if he refuses to pay it off?

I'm sure through the use of 'limited' companies and well paid accountants he'll be well protected Brin, super rich always are. The CEO of Microsoft here just sold close to $300M in shares and when asked why he said because if he waited until January 1st 2022 he'd have to pay a newly imposed 7% Washington State Capital Gains Tax. Saved himself $21M.

[KerrAvon]

Okay, let's remove the word fraud like you say. Answer me this question though, (According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2020, Morris is said to have amassed a fortune of £515m, making him the joint 268th richest person in the UK, and the joint 11th richest in the East Midlands), for a man worth all that amount of money, should he held accountable for refusing to pay his share of the tax bill and risk going to jail if he refuses to pay it off?

I haven't looked into the arrangements at Derby County, but would imagine that the tax debt is owed by a limited company as opposed to Morris himself. If that's right then the answer is clearly 'no' initially upon the basis that he doesn't owe the taxman anything.

On the wider point, if we are going to reintroduce the concept of going to prison for being in debt (i.e.Debtors Prison) then where are we going to stop? Are we going to send people with mortgage arrears or unpaid electric bills to prison too?

[Brin]

I haven't looked into the arrangements at Derby County, but would imagine that the tax debt is owed by a limited company as opposed to Morris himself. If that's right then the answer is clearly 'no' initially upon the basis that he doesn't owe the taxman anything.

On the wider point, if we are going to reintroduce the concept of going to prison for being in debt (i.e.Debtors Prison) then where are we going to stop? Are we going to send people with mortgage arrears or unpaid electric bills to prison too?

Now you're being silly. What average working class man/woman owes £26,000,000 to a building society? You speak as though you endorse Morris getting away with it.

[KerrAvon]

Now you're being silly. What average working class man/woman owes £26,000,000 to a building society? You speak as though you endorse Morris getting away with it.

I was asking a reasonable question. If we are going to start sending people to prison for owing money again where would you draw the line?

I asked because I was interested. Trying to prompt a bit of discussion, if you will. I'm sorry that you have taken it so personally, but that's the problem with the internet.

What level of debt do you consider justifies imprisonment?

[millertop]

I blame ELK for that!

[Brin]

I was asking a reasonable question. If we are going to start sending people to prison for owing money again where would you draw the line?

I asked because I was interested. Trying to prompt a bit of discussion, if you will. I'm sorry that you have taken it so personally, but that's the problem with the internet.

What level of debt do you consider justifies imprisonment?

I've not taken it personally but, when people make flippant remarks it provokes a certain response.

Realistically, the average working man/woman gets into debt on their mortgage. They are offered repayment plans with views to extend the mortgage etc as it is not a kings ransom. Failure to keep up the payments or continuing to default sees the property repossessed and it's sold at auction to cover the debt owed. No imprisonment required.

Flipping the coin, being involved somehow of owing a mind blowing staggering amount of £26 Million pounds to the HMRC and refusing to cover it, is a different level completely. You cannot say to me that a Chairman of a football club has absolved himself of any involvement of a tax bill owed like this. This kind of behaviour, if found to be correct warrants a much stiffer penalty like being imprisoned. There's no walking away from this kind of doing unlike having your home repossessed and the debt cleared.