Summerhall Management Ltd continues to defend itself against action by HMRC.
Director, Robert McDowell, said: “Summerhall Management is continuing to defend the petition to wind up the company that was recently served upon it.
“After papers were physically served on 4th October, our lawyers have now submitted answers to this petition confirming our intention to defend it – we have now been proffered a First Court Date of Monday 21st October 2024.
“To give some context and transparency, HMRC are pursuing Summerhall Management for over half a million pounds in corporation tax from many years ago, (for 2016, 2017, & 2018) claiming that we have made £1.5m undeclared profits in those 3 years, which our tax advisors and I believe is incorrect. According to our annual accounts since 2012 and verified by our independent accountants, Summerhall Management Ltd has in fact made a loss annually.
“The decision has been taken, under advisement, to continue to trade as far as possible within the prescribed restrictions imposed upon us. Our hope in continuing to trade is to protect the future of Summerhall, its staff, and its clients, following this action.
“These restrictions have been extremely challenging, especially without access to our bank accounts. We cannot pay out box office income, make essential stock purchases, pay suppliers, refund customers or pay our staff payroll.
“Our events calendar has also been severely impacted. Some events have been moved to alternative venues or cancelled, whilst events requiring no financial outlay can go ahead.
“We continue to work with our professional advisors and HMRC to defend our belief that no Corporation Tax is due, and hope that a resolution can be achieved which will allow us to deal with this and move on quickly.”
The buildings at Summerhall are owned by a family trust which put them on the market for sale with Cuthbert White, with a closing date on 18 September. Since then it has emerged that developers, AMA, may have been chosen as the preferred bidder. Read more here.
The Management company is the one which runs the business side – and if HMRC have frozen their bank accounts then it is difficult for the company to trade. There is a third entity the charity Summerhall Arts which is NOT involved in the running of the business which Robert McDowell has built up here since buying the former Dick Vet building. Summerhall Arts is a charity established earlier this year which has totally separate governance and finances from Summerhall Management.
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