Britishvolt owner hit with £8m bill over alleged tax avoidance in Australia
The new owner of failed battery start-up Britishvolt faces a near £8m tax bill in his home country of Australia, where one of his companies has been accused of having an “an intentional disregard of a taxation law”.
David Collard is facing a string of creditor claims for outstanding funds after his company Sanitex was ordered into liquidation, according to a report in The Sunday Times.
A recent report by Sanitex’s liquidator revealed the firm faced an A$15m (£7.8m) tax bill from the Australian Tax Office, 63 per cent of which was a fine relating to “an intentional disregard of a taxation law”, the report said.
The news comes after one of Collard’s other businesses, Recharge, agreed to buy Britishvolt after it entered into administration in January last year.
After the £8.5m deal was agreed, he announced his intention to use the company to build batteries for the Australian military.
But £2.2m of the takeover sum remains outstanding.
Current and former Britishvolt staff have also repeatedly claimed that several months of unpaid wages and pension contributions are due to them.
Recharge and EY, Britishvolt’s administrators, were contacted for comment. Morning Wire was unable to contact Collard directly for comment.