HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published a list of people and businesses in Liverpool and Merseyside who failed to pay their taxes in full, with three Liverpool-based firms defaulting on duties totalling almost £400,000. The list, released on October 2, names more than 130 entities across the UK for deliberately defaulting on tax, with HMRC issuing penalties in each case.
The list covers civil penalties only and does not include criminal convictions for tax fraud. Details remain published for 12 months. The cases relate to businesses that did not pay at least £25,000 in tax or make a full disclosure when HMRC began its investigation—a step that would have kept their details off the list. Information is only released once penalties are final.
Liverpool firms named
Among those listed with a Merseyside address at the time of default, Swan Builders Ltd, registered at Woolton Manor on Allerton Road, defaulted on £67,823 in taxes for the period covering November 2021 to November 2024. The 'development of building projects' firm was charged £50,867.25 in penalties.
Thomas Thanasis Margariti, a roofer and groundworker registered at Liverpool Road North in L31, defaulted on £58,022 for taxes during April 2017 to April 2020 and was charged £40,615.40 in penalties.
Largest penalty
These amounts are smaller than the penalties issued against Gladstone Build Limited, a building developer registered at Fieldfare Close in L25. For the period covering November 2023 to September 2024, Gladstone Build defaulted on £428,033 in taxes and was charged £304,578 in penalties.
The publication of the list of deliberate defaulters is one of many measures HMRC uses to tackle non-compliance in tax payments, while stepping up wider enforcement activity. The Publishing Details of Deliberate Defaulters (PDDD) regime allows HMRC to release information about taxpayers who have deliberately defaulted where statutory conditions are met.
Transparency and deterrence
The regime is intended to support transparency and act as a deterrent to deliberate non-compliance. Publication is not automatic; a taxpayer is only considered for the list where statutory conditions are satisfied. The regime targets the most serious cases of deliberate tax non-compliance and does not apply to taxpayers who made genuine mistakes or whose behaviour does not meet the legal test for deliberate conduct.
Responding to questions about the latest list, an HMRC spokesperson said: “We follow a robust process when we publish our Deliberate Defaulters list and details are only published where the statutory conditions are met. Before publication we carefully consider the facts of each case and taxpayers have opportunities to make representations before the list is published.”
