25 August 2017 – HMRC assessment
Shares in Augean have collapsed on the news that the company has received a tax assessment relating to landfill tax that dates back to 2013. The amount claimed by HMRC is £1.9m plus £0.2m of interest although Augean is to appeal against this. It seems that the company has been in discussions with HMRC about the amount of landfill tax it may need to pay and the assessment has now been issued by the tax authorities because there is a four year window to claim the tax – by issuing the assessment HMRC can continue its discussions with the company and not be time barred from claiming the tax. The company believes that it has paid all the tax due having taken legal and other advice but clearly this could be a significant blow to the company if more tax is payable. Other assessments could also be issued which could be very substantial. Until there is some clarification on this matter we have reduced our recommendation to HOLD.