Suspended prison sentence for Sheffield takeaway owner after £30k tax scam

Babak Nezami, who ran Pizza 4 You on Ridgeway Road, Gleadless Townend, pleaded guilty to income tax and VAT fraud at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting failing to disclose his true income.

Nezami, of Burnaby Green, Walkley, lied about his income on tax returns between 2011 and 2015 to evade paying the correct amount of tax.

The 33-year-old also failed to register for VAT or pay it despite trading over the VAT threshold since January 2015.

Nezami told HMRC he received an income totalling £139,099 between 2011 and 2015 but investigators established that he had received more than £217,000 from online sales alone.

Proceedings are now underway to recover the £30,000 owed by Nezami.

An HMRC spokesperson said: "Nezami thought he could line his pockets with money which should have been used to fund our public services, but he was wrong.

"HMRC will continue to pursue criminals like Nezami who think stealing tax is acceptable."