Window Cleaner Owed £92,000 Tax

Window cleaner owed £92,000 tax: A window cleaner failed to declare a property during bankrupcy proceedings, a court heard. David Fitton, aged 61, admitted failing to declare property he owned when the HM Revenue & Customs petitioned for bankruptcy. Judge Peter Davies sentenced him to a 26-week jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered him to complete 150 hours unpaid work .

Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, said HMRC petitioned for the bankruptcy of Fitton, of Brookhey Avenue in Great Lever, who was said to owe revenue £92,000. Bolton Crown Court heard how Fitton admitted he was the owner of a home in Brookhey Avenue, a car and bank account and signed a document confirming he understood the meaning of perjury. But he failed to tell HMRC he owned a second home.

Bassano said it was a “deliberate omission” not to declare he owned a home in Calvert Road, Great Lever worth £75,000 with equity expected to be £31,000. He then failed to co-operate with letters and meetings between September and November last year. Mr Bassano said: “In March he admitted he failed to admit his interest in the Calvert Road property. He believed the property at Brookhey Avenue would be taken off him and he wouldn’t have anywhere to live.”

Adam Watkins, defending, said it was an “unsophisticated attempt to conceal or disguise the assets”. He said Fitton, a self-employed window cleaner, had accrued the debts over three years. Judge Davies, sentencing, said: “Some people might think that’s a technical offence , I can say it’s a dishonest offence. It carries the same maximum penalty as a theft and that is seven years. What you have done over a course of years is failed to pay taxed up to £92,000. “For a self-employed trader such as yourself either you are extraordinary successful businessman or a persistent evader or tax.” Fitton will be subject to bankruptcy proceedings at Bolton County Court in October.