Scrap dealer's business ban over £3m tax evasion

A SCRAP dealer has been banned from running businesses for 10 years after HMRC unearthed more than £3 million of tax evasion.

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Paul Pearce, who was managing director of Mansfield-based PPX Metal Management Ltd, has been banned from being a company director until 2035 after the company took part in transactions "connected with the fraudulent evasion of VAT".

The 42-year-old caused or failed to prevent PPX from "wrongfully" claiming input VAT of £3,710,349 from HM Revenue and Customs from September 1, 2014, to November 26, 2015, according to the Government's Insolvency Service. Wrongfully claiming input VAT occurs when a business deducts Value Added Tax (VAT) on purchases that it is not legally entitled to recover.