A WHITCHURCH chip shop owner named and shamed by the government for non-payment of tax says he is on top of the situation.

Gary Singh owns Gardiners Traditional Fish and Chips shop in Mill Street and was last week included in HMRC’s latest list of business people who had not paid tax and had been penalised for it.

According to HMRC’s website, the popular takeaway was ordered to pay its tax bill of £56,946.82 for the period between April 2020 and April 2022, with a penalty of £48,404.79.

MORE NEWS:

Mr Singh says the non-payment was the result of a family emergency which meant his return  to his native India but insisted that he was top of the payments required and was already working with HMRC to resolve the situation.

“We are already sorting this out and we are paying it monthly to pay it off,” he said.

"Last time there was any problem I had gone to India to see my dad which was in 2022 during the Covid time. I stayed there for two months.

“I pay out every six months for hospital money, every six months for school and we give money to the foodbank. I pay out every day – I’m not that sort of person.

“You can’t hide anything now – everybody pays by card now in my shop so you can’t hide anything. Over the last two or three years, everyone pays by card.”

Mr Singh reiterated the reasons for the non-payment and assured customers the business – which is hugely popular in Whitchurch – was open

Get in touch

Share your views on this story by sending a letter to the editor. To get in touch email news@whitchurchherald.co.uk, or fill in the form on this section of our website.

He added: “It was a combination of factors that I had to go to India for family reasons but now we’re sorting out everything.

“We want to assure our customers that we are open.”

The chip shop has been a long-term donator to good causes, such as Whitchurch Foodbank.