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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Molly Pike

Gemma Collins banned from being company director for 3 years after business owed £70k tax

Gemma Collins has been banned from being a company director for three years after a probe found her business failed to pay more than £70,000 in tax.

The 39-year-old's company was ruled to have missed VAT return deadlines.

The Insolvency Service began an investigation into her financial affairs after she put her company Gemma Collins Boutique Limited into liquidation in 2017.

HMRC say they were owed £71,745 in respect of VAT when she closed the business, which was based at a shop in Brentwood, Essex.

Gemma, who shot to fame in TOWIE and presents her own BBC podcast, has now been disqualified from acting as a director of any UK company until 2023.

Gemma Collins has been banned from being a company director for three years after a probe her business failed to pay more than £70,000 in tax (GC Images)

The Insolvency Service's case report into Miss Collins states: "Since at least 7 October 2013 until 11 July 2017, the date of liquidation, Ms Collins caused Gemma Collins Boutique Limited to trade to the detriment of HMRC by failing to ensure it submitted returns and made payments as required for VAT so that as at liquidation, Boutique had an outstanding liability of at least £71,745.04 in respect of VAT.

"Boutique's first return for 08/13, due for submission and payment by 7 October 2013 at the latest, was submitted on 16 March 2015 with a sum due of £5,692. No payment was made in respect of this return.

"Boutique submitted a further 13 VAT returns for the 11/13 to 11/16 periods totalling £55,784.89 against which only 4 payments were made totalling £5,906.37.

The TOWIE star outside Gemma Collins Boutique in Brentwood in 2014 (Kate Wooldridge/WENN.com)

"In the absence of adequate payment HMRC raised surcharges totalling £4,434.19 for these periods. No further payments were made.

"In the absence of returns HMRC raised assessments for the 02/17 to 08/17 periods totalling £10,489.00 and applied surcharges of £1,250.85.

"Prior to the submission of the late returns, HMRC raised assessments totalling £4,899 for the VAT periods up to 02/15, against which one payment of £708 was made in November 2014.

"At Liquidation Boutique had VAT liabilities totalling £71,745.04."

She put Gemma Collins Boutique Limited into liquidation in 2017 (DIGITAL/EROTEME.CO.UK)

The investigation also found that between July 2015 and June 2017 more than £280,000 went out of the company bank account while it was behind on its VAT returns.

This included £33,298.29 paid to Gemma, £16,086.47 to 'unknown parties' and £18,538.68 to connected companies.

Gemma resigned as a director of her other companies, Gemma Collins Limited and Gemma Collins Clothing Limited, last month ahead of the ban which came into force on February 14.

She first appeared on The Only Way Is Essex in 2011 and has since been a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother and Dancing On Ice.

Mirror Online has contacted Gemma's rep for comment.

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