EXCLUSIVE: Lip Sync Productions, the British film and TV investor behind titles including The Brutalist and Viggo Mortensen’s Falling, has been named and shamed by the UK’s tax authorities.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said Lip Sync Productions, a sister company to the collapsed Lipsync post-house, was at the top of its most recently published list of “deliberate tax defaulters.”
HMRC revealed that Lip Sync Productions failed to pay a £14.1M ($19M) tax bill between 2019 and 2023, meaning it had been slapped with a penalty of £7M. There is no suggestion that third parties involved in Lip Sync’s film projects were aware of the tax default.
Peter Hampden, the owner and director of Lip Sync Productions, did not respond to a request for comment. Hampden’s co-founder, Norman Merry, died last year after being diagnosed with cancer.
An HMRC spokesperson declined to comment on the details of Lip Sync Productions’ unpaid tax bill, but said: “We are committed to tackling those who deliberately default on the tax they owe. By publishing the names of deliberate defaulters and their penalties, we send a clear message that non-compliance has consequences.”
Begbies Traynor was appointed as a voluntary liquidator at Lip Sync Productions in January. Hampden continues to serve as a director of the company, as well as related party Glenthorp Limited, which was the parent company of Lipsync Post.
Deadline revealed last May that Lipsync Post had collapsed. Ireland’s Playhouse Studios later acquired Lipsync’s assets, saving dozens of jobs in the process.
Oury Clark, the administrator appointed to handle Lipsync Post’s demise, said the company had received a “substantial claim” from HMRC, worth more than £17.5M.
In a report, Oury Clark said it was assessing the dispute with HMRC “in respect of the VAT treatment of various historic transactions” and “the utilisation of tax relief schemes” by Lipsync Post and third-party clients.
Lip Sync Productions was founded in November 2006. It backed projects including We Need To Talk About Kevin, Great Expectations, Nowhere Boy, and Made In Dagenham.
Leave a Reply