Quarry Firms Requested to Pay HMRC Pending Appeals
A number of Scottish quarry firms who have been withholding disputed tax, which accounts to around £10 million, have been asked to pay up or face their assets being seized. This comes as a result of a ruling in a Court of Session.
The firms in question have banded together and formed the British Aggregates Association, and have been fighting their legal battle against the £2 per-tonne levy that was introduced back in 2002.
The companies in question claim that because some kinds of rocks are exempt from the levy, the state aid rules are being breached. These firms are being asked to pay the tax ‘under protest’, despite having had a partial victory in a European court last year. As a result of this, many companies have stopped handing over the money they owe in tax.
Previously, a lawyer for the firms had told the court that they feared that t he money would be difficult to get back if they eventually win the court battle.