Joules administrators to pay £5.9m of overdue tax
The administrators of Joules are set to pay a tax bill of £5.9m in overdue VAT as part of the retailer’s liquidation process.
The sale of Joule’s assets is believed to be worth a full repayment of the tax, which is due to HM Revenue and Customs.
Joules – which collapsed into administration in November 2022 – was rescued by Next in a £34m deal after failing to secure emergency investment.
In June 2023 administrators Interpath Advisory said the retailer owed over £100m to suppliers, lenders, and customers.
The firm’s report said that unsecured creditors were owed £112m.
Clothing and fabric suppliers were reportedly owed a further £38.6m while associated property companies had been left short-changed by £3.8m.
Gift card holders were also out-of-pocket by £1.3m, whilst the remaining debt is owed to other companies and creditors.
The report revealed that those affected will receive just a fraction of what they are owed, with creditors likely to receive between 12p and 15p to the pound.
A new report, seen by The Times, said Interpath Advisory expects to pay HMRC back in full.