RMJM facing £500,000 US tax demand

SCOTLAND’s biggest architectural firm, RMJM, owes tax authorities in the US more than $800,000 (£504,000), documents published in New York have revealed.

The New York state department of taxation and finance has included the firm in its list of top 250 so-called delinquent tax payers. RMJM owes the state $843,138 and is at number 104 on the table according to the state’s monthly list for August.

A spokesman for the department has claimed the Edinburgh-based firm withheld its taxes.

He told trade publication Building and Design: “Typically, withholding tax issues are the result of the company collecting the required taxes from its employees but not remitting those taxes to the state. RMJM has been on the top 250 list since January 2012.”

He added: “Owing nearly $900,000 in tax debt is very significant. By cheating New York state you’re cheating all New York state taxpayers.”

RMJM’s US office is believed to employ fewer than 30 staff. The man in charge of its US office, commercial director Richard Bailes, brother-in-law of chief executive Peter Morrison, is understood to have relocated to Edinburgh.

Last week RMJM revealed accounts which showed it suffered an £11m pre-tax loss in 2011. At the same time, the firm’s owner Sir Fraser Morrison bought back £20m of debt from Bank of Scotland in addition to £8m he had pumped into the firm.

RMJM was unavailable for comment.