A Brentwood company boss has been banned from acting as a company director for six years after failing to declare nearly £6m in tax.

Jonathan Edward Shawyer, of Sigma Payroll Services Limited, based in Regent House, Hubert Road, was disqualified on August 19, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

The investigation found that Shawyer, 45, of Brickenden, Hertfordshire had allowed the company to declare less VAT liability to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) than it owed, in breach of its legal obligations to submit accurate returns and payments.

The company had submitted tax returns for April 2009 – March 2010 declaring a total of £497,341 which it then paid in full.

However HMRC assessments, based on the company’s bank activity, showed this was £5,920,648 less than was expected.

Mark Bruce, a chief examiner in the Insolvency Service, said: “When companies submit incorrect tax returns on time and pay the amounts due immediately, it may take some considerable time for the tax authorities to discover what is really due. This was such a case where nearly £6m in tax was undeclared.

“Such behaviour introduces unfair competition in the market and robs hardworking taxpayers of resources needed to run public services.

“The Insolvency Service rightly takes such blatant abuse of the tax regime seriously and worthy of a significant disqualification period.”

Sigma Payroll Services entered voluntary liquidation on 23 June 2010.