Aizio Associates Limited (Aizio) appealed against a penalty issued by HMRC in the sum of £21,457.55. Mr Timothy Campbell (TC) (the current director of Aizio) and Mr David Billard (DB) (the former director of Aizio)â¯appealed against personal liability notices (PLNs) issued by HMRC.
DB and TC were originally Directors of Aizio from its inception in 2017. DB was responsible for filing Aizio’s VAT return but ceased being a director in October 2019. DB provided TC with paper copies of the company's records which were scanned and retained on TC’s laptop but not backed up. The paper records were then destroyed. HMRC agreed a VAT inspection in March 2020. TC drove to Slovakia on business and took his laptop containing the business records with him. At this point, the panic over COVID-19 started in earnest and TC decided to fly home immediately before the lockdown. He left his car and most of his luggage, including the laptop, in the car
