Re closure of business VAT refund

Valsie

Hello I had a shop (limited company) and retired July 2017 I sold the business and it was dissolved October 2018, I have always used a large accountancy firm in stoke on trent to do my accounts and vat returns, I was informed by my accountants that i was owed a VAT refund of £935 and they were in the process of getting my refund, since then I have made phone call after phone call to my accountants but hence no refund the accountant that used to deal with my accounts does not even answer my calls now and if I ring the office he is always out or in a meeting I am talking about a well known accountants not just a small business and I paid a lot of money to have my accounts done, surely if they take on my business they are responsible from the start of my business to the end, I was informed by one of his secretaries that the money would have now gone to the Crown, the email from her on 21/11/18 said 'as frustrating as it is the time it is taking, at least we know something is happening about this somewhere this was regarding a letter she had received from HM Gov to say it was at the Crown, I just don't know how to get the accountants to sort this it is as though they don't want to know me anymore, I realise i was a small business compared to some of the businesses they deal with but in my shop I always treated my customers with the same respect whether they spent a £1 or £300 I just wondered if there is anyone out there who can give me some advice
Thank you for reading

Pennywise

If it's a big firm as you say, write a formal complaint in accordance with their complaints procedure as per their letter of engagement. If no complaints procedure is shown, then write your complaint to the managing partner at their head office.

Were they qualified/regulated by one of the main chartered accountancy bodies? If so, you could also make a complaint to the professional body (google for their address). If they're not qualified/regulated then any recompense is simply under normal contract law.

Valsie

Thank you Pennywise for replying I am not sure of all the answers to your reply will have to investigate but my accountant is one of the directors of this company

BoGoF

As the company is dissolved the refund cannot be paid as the entity doesn't exist anymore. I think it costs quite a bit to reregister with companies house and possibly not worth doing for a relatively small refund. Nothing to stop you complaining to your accountant though.

Jack_Merell

Hi, I think the crown won't keep your money. They will give it back to you, but maybe it takes some time. I have a Spanish based company and if you close it or just put it in "stand by" mode, they give you (the administrator of the company) back the owed VAT at the end of the year. Also, I'm sure any accountant can solve it.

Pennywise

Jack_Merell wrote: »

Hi, I think the crown won't keep your money. They will give it back to you, but maybe it takes some time. I have a Spanish based company and if you close it or just put it in "stand by" mode, they give you (the administrator of the company) back the owed VAT at the end of the year. Also, I'm sure any accountant can solve it.

Then you don't understand the English legal system. Once a company has been struck off, all it's assets are bona vacantia, meaning they are forfeit to The Crown. The only way to get the money back is to reverse the striking off which is a formal legal process and will cost a lot more than the £935 "lost". If it can be proved the accountant is at fault, then quickest/cheapest/easiest option is for them to pay it themselves or claim on their PI insurance.

Jack_Merell

Wow, I didn't know that. I thought here in Spain we had a quite unfair, and restrictive system. But compared to that...

Valsie

Thank you all so much for your replies, i do feel the accountant is to blame I have paid for years to have my accounts done and also they dealt with all my VAT so surely they should have got the refund back

uknick

Valsie, might it be worth calling the VAT section of HMRC just to confirm what they think the situation is, i.e. what was the final figure of VAT owed? Just to make sure you're getting the full story.

In addition, what did the final accounts say with regard to any monies owed to you? If they do show an amount, I would agree you have cause to complain through the official complaints procedure. I can only see it as negligent to dissolve a company which has an easily recoverable debt.

Valsie

Thank you so much uknick for replying i do have the final figure of VAT owing as £935 I was informed by one of my accountants secretaries that I had a refund coming to me of this amount unfortunately she has now left the company but someone else took over the chase to get this refund for me but it has now come to a standstill nothing is happening, I spoke to my accountant the last time in march and he said although the money had now gone to the Crown usually for amounts under £2000 they sometimes released the money he was going to apply for the refund and I was to ring him in 2 weeks on his mobile if I hadn't heard anything I left it 2 months and despite several call to him he is not answering my calls, I have a copy of a letter from H M Customs that the secretary (who left) copied me into which states as a matter of law the money had now been transferred to the crown in which she said to me at least we know something is happening somewhere, my opinion is if I paid my accountant to do the accounts and all my VAT then they are responsible from the start of my business to the end and this should have been sorted long ago, I myself have never had any idea what happens re the VAT as they have had full responsibility of it, hope this makes sense, I feel sometimes that i am not very important in my accountants eyes as I am a small business compared to some of the companies they deal with but they were happy to deal with me all those years ago

Pennywise

Just for clarity, who actually dealt with striking off the company at Companies House. Was it the same accountant or did you get someone else to do it or did you apply directly yourself?