Twitter is busy developing its own fail whale offline in the UK where it has been revealed that the company has been fined by authorities for failing to report its corporate accounts on time.
Sky News reports that the company did not file the mandatory details — which are used as a basis for tax filings with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) — in September, and that triggered an automatic fine of £375 (US$600) for both Twitter and Tweetdeck, the UK-based service that it acquired in 2011 for just over $40 million.
A spokesperson for Cardiff-based Companies House, which deals with the issue, told Sky:
“They are both currently in default on the submission of accounts to us on their respective due dates. Companies House records show Twitter’s accounts should have been delivered by September 30 but there is no indication this has been done. There is no indication at this stage when the accounts will be available but as a matter of routine we will already be in correspondence with the companies to request that they file as soon as possible.”
The fine for submitting a late filing starts at £150 (US$240 – for a private company) for a one month delay, rising to £1,500 (US$2,400) if accounts are delivered more than six months late. Companies that were slow to file the year previous can expect to receive double the penalty.
Twitter’s Companies House record shows that the firm is yet to produce the documentation:
The issue of taxation for overseas firms is currently a major talking point in the UK, with the likes of Amazon, Google and Starbucks coming under pressure for the low tax rate that they enjoy in the country. There’s no suggestion that Twitter has dodged tax, but Twitter needs to be careful it doesn’t come under unnecessary pressure for something that is so trivial.
Headline image via Seedcamp / Flickr
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