28,482 Yuan Fabric Dyeing Fee: Court Orders Defaulting Garment Company to Pay After Tax Records Confirm Debt

A dyeing and knitting company that processed over 4,500 meters of fabric for a garment manufacturer obtained a judgment for 28,482 yuan in unpaid processing fees, after the court used tax certification records to independently verify the debt when the defendant disappeared and its business license was revoked.

In late 2008, the garment company delivered 4,527.4 meters of unfinished fabric to the processing company for dyeing and finishing services. The total processing fee was 38,482 yuan. After completing the work and obtaining quality acceptance, the processor issued a value-added tax invoice in January 2009. The garment company made a single payment of 10,000 yuan in August 2009 but never paid the remaining 28,482 yuan.

The processing company initially sought pre-litigation asset preservation, requesting a freeze on the garment company’s bank account. The court granted the order, but the account had already been closed. The garment company had since ceased operations, its business license was revoked for inactivity, and its legal representative had become unreachable. The case was converted from simplified to ordinary procedure, and the defendant was served by public notice.

At trial, the processor presented two pieces of evidence: the original value-added tax invoice and a bank transfer receipt confirming the 10,000 yuan partial payment. The court independently verified the claim by checking with the local tax authority, which confirmed that the defendant had certified the value-added tax invoice through the tax system. This certification constituted the defendant’s own acknowledgment of both the processing relationship and the total fee amount.

The court confirmed the processing contract was valid and ordered payment of 28,482 yuan within ten days. The processor’s claim for interest from the invoice date was partially rejected, as no payment deadline had been agreed upon; instead, interest was calculated only from the lawsuit filing date at the central bank lending rate. Combined court and preservation fees totaled 1,011 yuan, charged to the defendant.