We reported this seller to HMRC VAT Fraud team in 2014. Their accounts where removed in 2016.

HMRC has gifted this seller at least £300,000 in unpaid VAT. That’s 1.3% of the total £22.5m budget HMRC have allocated to tackle this fraud over the next 5 year.

Case Study

eBayer Seller aclubuk is making sales in the region of £564,648 per year. This equates to £94,108 of VAT a year. They started trading on eBay.co.uk 5 years ago on 30 April, 2010.

aclub

From the business information provided one is led to believe that this company is based in London. However the address is a virtual address provided by London PO Box.

There is no company registered in the UK by the name of ACLUB UK

The only information provided is the Chinese name Cheung and an email address with @aclub.com which links it to a company in Hong Kong: http://www.aclub.com/aboutus.asp

Unit C, 5/F,
Wah Yuen Factory Bldg,
19 Beech Street,
Tai Kok Tsui,
Hong Kong
Tel.: (+852) 2393-3331

A few simple checks by eBay would have verified that this company does not exist in the UK and is, in fact, a Chinese based company trading illegally in the UK without charging VAT.

Questions for HMRC to Answer:

  1. Who has been paying the £94,108.00 annual VAT for ACLUB UK in the past 5 years?