Apostle Accounting: Tax rebate scandal firm set to fold

Stowmarket-based Apostle Accounting has appointed liquidators

A Suffolk company at the centre of a tax rebate scandal is being wound up.

A notice in the London Gazette, the official public record, states the firm's directors have appointed liquidators.

Hundreds of Apostle clients are facing large bills after claiming rebates through the company which they subsequently discovered they were not entitled to.

The BBC has contacted Stowmarket-based Apostle for comment.

The notice, posted by Apostle director Zoe Goodchild, states a resolution was passed on 10 October to wind up the company.

The liquidation is being handled by Leeds-based firm DFW Associates.

In a letter seen by the BBC, the liquidator stated they were contacting Apostle's creditors and asking them to lodge claims.

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A liquidator usually takes control of a business and will seek to settle legal disputes and sell off the company's assets and use any money to pay creditors.

They can also interview the directors and report on what went wrong in the business and get it removed from the companies register.

Former Apostle client Lee Osborne has been compiling a list of people who say they have received repayment demands from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) after the firm lodged rebate claims on their behalf.

Some former clients are facing five-figure bills which includes the 20% fee charged by Apostle for their service, and the rebate repayment to HMRC, which also includes interest on top of it.

'Exhausted emotionally'

Mr Osborne's list currently has the names of 800 people who have received demands totalling more than £1.8m.

He said: "Many of the affected people, including myself, feel like with have done 12 rounds in the ring; we are exhausted emotionally, our mental health is in pieces and we are crippled financially.

"MPs have achieved very little in terms of helping those affected and HMRC don't care about the people and the damage that has been caused.

"All the while Apostle has ridden off into the sunset with the 24% fees [including VAT] they took, and they get to close the company, delete it from history and distance itself from this whole tax rebate scandal."

Specialised police officers from the East Region Special Operations Unit are investigating Apostle Accounting.

The company has denied any wrongdoing.