Winding up a company with tax debt?

Soldato
Joined
3 Sep 2008
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Is this possible, does the debt magically disappear? Trying to convince a family member this is a bad idea as I'm sure HMRC will require it to be paid regardless.
 
Take specialist advice from Accountant/tax adviser.

With so little detail you are not going to get a proper answer on here.

Depends on shareholders/owners/debtors/creditors etc - who owe's what etc.

You'll get nothing of any great detail on here.
 
HMRC become the priority debtor usually.

And if it's VAT that's owed then that's a lot more serious than corporation tax (as you nearly act as a collection agent for VAT, so should never spend that money)

But this certainly would require specialist advice, as mentioned above.
 
Interesting question, I cannot imagine they would let you get away with vat.. I hate accounts related stuff. Speak to an accountant is the best advice. Speak to a dodgy accountant if you know one!

My company is insolvent and my accountant is on my case about it.. I am the only person in it, I am the only person owned money. There is 4k in the bank the tax office owe me 3k and 5k and 2k and £800 and I owe them £400 (and i have to pay that despite them owing me money) and I owe myself £25k.. Its only a paperwork issue but its just annoying..
 
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HMRC become the priority debtor usually.

And if it's VAT that's owed then that's a lot more serious than corporation tax (as you nearly act as a collection agent for VAT, so should never spend that money)

But this certainly would require specialist advice, as mentioned above.

HMRC are a priority debtor for taxes collected at source (e.g. VAT/PAYE). They are not a priority debtor for things like corporation tax.

There can be consequences in doing this, from director disqualifications to pursuing the individual for certain debts.

Proper advice is important.
 
I've been involved with helping to winding up a company that owed over £100k in VAT debt, whatever they didn't get back through the liquidation (which would have been the majority of it as the company had nothing left) would have been written off as they didn't pursue the Director for it personally. Though as Pudney mentioned the extra measures they took was to bar him from being a Director again for 5 years iirc.

But as mentioned, get proper advice for the specific circumstances from an accountant/liquidator.
 
I've been involved with helping to winding up a company that owed over £100k in VAT debt, whatever they didn't get back through the liquidation (which would have been the majority of it as the company had nothing left) would have been written off as they didn't pursue the Director for it personally. Though as Pudney mentioned the extra measures they took was to bar him from being a Director again for 5 years iirc.

But as mentioned, get proper advice for the specific circumstances from an accountant/liquidator.

HMRC can't bar anyone from being a company director. Such matters are usually dealt with by The Insolvency Service and a bar may come about through a ‘disqualification undertaking’ or court proceedings.

Apart from The Insolvency Service, other bodies can apply for a disqualification under certain circumstances, e.g.:
  • Companies House
  • the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
  • the courts
  • a company insolvency practitioner
 
I've been involved with helping to winding up a company that owed over £100k in VAT debt, whatever they didn't get back through the liquidation (which would have been the majority of it as the company had nothing left) would have been written off as they didn't pursue the Director for it personally. Though as Pudney mentioned the extra measures they took was to bar him from being a Director again for 5 years iirc.

Sounds like he was lucky!
 
Can it be done? It depends. You haven't provided enough information for anyone to give proper advice. If the company is solvent it will have to pay off its debts before it is wound up. If it is insolvent you'll should speak to an insolvency practioner. Happy to send you a contact if that would be helpful.
 
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