TweetDeck Ltd., the Twitter-owned company behind the immensely popular social media dashboard app with the same name, risks closure in the United Kingdom after repeatedly failing to file financial accounts with the business regulator, reports Sky News.
In the UK, all registered limited companies, including subsidiary, small and inactive firms, must file annual financial statements with Companies House in addition to annual company returns, which are all public records.
The returns are used as a basis for tax filings with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes.
According to the Sky News report, TweetDeck has been very sloppy. It has already missed two deadlines, in September and December 2012, and a Companies House spokesperson tells the news service that the company now has only 99 days left to file up-to-date financial accounts.
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If it misses the third deadline, the Twitter UK subsidiary may be removed from the register and face dissolution.
It’s important to note, however, that there is no suggestion that Twitter or TweetDeck have dodged any tax liability.
As Sky News points out, TweetDeck has already been automatically fined £375 (roughly $600) twice for missing the previous deadlines, and may receive a fine totalling £1,500 if it fails to file financial accounts ‘shortly’.
In that case, TweetDeck may also become subject to debt recovery procedures and legal action.
We’ve reached out to parent company Twitter and will update if and when we hear back.
Update: Twitter declined to comment.
It’s odd that Twitter didn’t take care of things after receiving the first penalty in September 2012, but my educated guess is that the Sky News report will garner enough attention to push it into action-taking mode.
Twitter’s official UK subsidiary (which exists alongside TweetDeck) has also been fined in the past for failing to report financial accounts to the UK business regulator, but has since sorted this.
Just last week, public records showed that Twitter UK posted profits of a mere £16,500 (approximately $26.600).
Image credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
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