Written ByKeith Steven
Managing Director
Keith is the author of the content on this comprehensive rescue, turnaround and insolvency website. He is the managing director of KSA Group Ltd - a specialist firm of turnaround and licensed insolvency practitioners. Keith was nominated for Turnaround Practitioner of the Year 2014 at the National Insolvency and Rescue Awards in 2014.
I have received a warning letter from HMRC threatening a winding up petition. What now?
You will receive an HMRC 21 day warning letter if you are late with your tax payments and VAT and PAYE remains unpaid. It is designed to lead you to a negotiation for payment of the debt. The letter itself states that if the payment isn’t made within 21 days from the date of the letter, the Solicitor of HM Revenue & Customs will present a petition to the High Court to wind up the company due to its insolvency or start other legal actions. This is in effect, a letter before action. Attached to the letter will be a statement of liabilities outlining the debts this warning letter covers. What is HMRC likely to do?
They have a number of aggressive debt collection tools available:
You must act quickly to rectify these issues as the petition must be advertised in the London/Belfast Gazette within 21 business days of being issued. This can lead to the company’s bank accounts being frozen and other creditors supporting the petition, therefore making it harder for the company to be salvaged, as more organisations need to be paid.
First things first, don’t just ignore the letter – HMRC will automatically take action if they don’t receive a response within 21 days. The ideal way to solve this issue is to pay the debt. However, many companies are not in a position to do so. To avoid this, there is a great solution called a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). A CVA is simply a deal between the insolvent company and its creditors; this deal places a legal ring fence, called a moratorium, around the company and stops creditors attacking the company. It allows a viable but struggling company to repay some, or all, of its historic debts out of future profits, over a period of time to be agreed.
Directors stay in control of the company, stopping legal actions like HMRC winding up petitions, if you use a quality, experienced advisor for support, such as us at KSA.
So what can HMRC do to collect its tax arrears?
They can issue:
Visit our page on creditors legal actions for definitions and advice for all the above.
The most important thing is really not to ignore the letter. If HMRC say they will take action in 21 days they usually will.
What is a CVA? | Company Voluntary Arrangements Explained
A CVA or Company Voluntary Arrangement is a legally binding agreement with your company's creditors which allows a proportion of its debts to be paid back over time. 75% of the creditors, by value, who voted need to support the proposal.
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Pre Pack Administration Process and Procedures
Pre pack administration is an insolvency procedure which allows an insolvent company to sell its assets to a buyer before appointing administrators. It’s a powerful, legal way of selling the business on to a trade buyer or third party.
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Worried Director What Will Happen To Me After Liquidation?
"A man in the pub said I cannot be a director of any other company if I liquidate my company. Is this true?"Actually, this statement is entirely false! Misconceptions like this frequently arise from individuals with limited understanding of the subject matter. Such misinformation can cause undue anxiety for directors considering liquidation, fearing it might personally affect them. Guess what? Listening to bar room experts, inexperienced accountants, or no insolvency specialist lawyers can stop decisions being made, this failure to make a decision is really what could land you in trouble. So how will liquidation affect me and how long does it take? Having a limited liability company means that the directors have little risk (or limited liability) if the company fails, as long as they have acted properly and acted in time. What is more, if as a director, you have been compliant and on the payroll for many years, you can actually claim redundancy from the government like any other employee. But, and it is a big but, if you fail to act in time, fail to act reasonably, fail to keep books and records, continue taking credit KNOWING that the company cannot possibly repay it, then you ARE at risk of personal financial loss or worse such as losing your house. So, act now and get help for your company and more importantly start reducing your own risks.Voluntary liquidation is the quickest most efficient way to deal with an insolvent company that has no future. As a director of an insolvent company, you are at risk if you do not act. This risk RISES the longer you don't act to put the company into liquidation.If you fail to act and the company is wound up by the creditors (compulsory liquidation) then the Official Receiver (OR) will be appointed to liquidate the business and he or she will investigate the activity of the directors and the business over the last 2-3 years. This is known as a conduct report on each director. If the OR can prove there was wrongful trading where, for instance, you have taken credit from a supplier or took deposits from customers when you knew that it was highly unlikely that you could pay them back, then you could be made personally liable.This is known as the "lifting of the veil of incorporation" that protects directors under limited liability. If this happens then you could made liable for PAYE, VAT and creditors monies from the time that you should have known the company had no reasonable prospect of surviving the problems it faced.Additionally, the directors may face disqualification proceedings under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 for up to 15 years, they can be fined and may face the loss of personal assets like your home, or even personal bankruptcy.Look, if you as directors have acted naively you may not know that you have broken these laws, but now you do know, it is vital to ensure that you protect yourself as a director by acting quickly to cease trading and put the company into voluntary liquidation; or consider a company voluntary arrangement if the company is VIABLE if the problems are solved. What is Creditors Voluntary Liquidation and what does it mean for me? In short, liquidation usually means, the company's trading stops and it's assets are turned into cash or "liquidated".All other possible liabilities, like employment liabilities, landlord's rent or payments to lease companies are stopped. It really is the end of the company, but the "business" may survive if a phoenix is organised. Liquidation is a powerful way to END creditor pressure and let you get on with your life. What if I have signed personal guarantees? If you have signed personal guarantees or indemnities to lenders, then the liquidation could lead to them being called in if the bank cannot get its money back from the company. There is little that can be done about that, but you should not delay decisions on liquidation to try and prevent a PG being called in: just think what ALL of the company's debts landing on your shoulders would do. Also it should be noted that HMRC now rank ahead of floating charge holders in any liquidation since December 2020. Consequently, this may well mean that lenders that you have personally guaranteed will get less recovery hence exposing you more.All banks will agree a deal to repay the PG over time - provided you work with the bank to reduce their exposure.One great piece of FREE advice - always make sure that ALL tax returns, VAT returns and annual returns have been completed and sent in and that other "compliance" issues are dealt with wherever possible. These are important processes and will help protect you as individual directors. It shows that you have been acting properly. I have heard about directors being able to claim redundancy in liquidation If you have been employed by the company and made payments via PAYE then you will be able to claim redundancy from the government and this is in fact a very simple process (20 minutes to fill out a form and we can help with that) so there is no need really to employ a third party to make a claim. This process has been open to fraud so the HMRC are cracking down on operators that claim to be able to get money back when there is not enough "paperwork". It isn't worth the risk. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is!You need to learn more about the options. This is clearly a general guide so, if you have any worries at all, please, just call us and we will talk you through the situation free and with expert guidance for your situation. Call one of our advisors or if you prefer, call our IPs (insolvency practitioners) now:Just one CALL will help relieve the stress and get you out of the mess.Why not call 08009700539 or 020 7887 2667 now?We could help you start the liquidation process today.(8.15am till 5.00pm; Out of hours call on 07833 240747, Wayne Harrison (IP) or Eric Walls (IP) on 07787 278527)Finally, please remember this: NO BUSINESS is worth losing your health, relationships, marriages or your children over. Act properly, take advice, get the problem sorted and then get on with your life. In a little while the stress will go and you can focus on other things that are more important.Want more information on liquidation? Get our new free 2023 Experts Complete Guide to Creditors Voluntary Liquidation that covers Bounce Back LoansWe are experts in liquidation, voluntary liquidation, administration, pre-pack administration, business rescue, corporate rescue and company rescue, we can help solve your problems but only if you talk to us. Call 0800 9700539 for help.or email us your worries at help@ksagroup.co.uk
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Notice of Intention To Appoint Administrators
A notice of intention to appoint administrators is when the company files a document to the court to outline that it intends to go into administration if a solution cannot be found to its immediate financial problems. It can be used as part of the pre-pack administration process as well as used to restructure a failing business to avoid its liquidation.
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What Is A Winding Up Petition By HMRC or Other Creditor
A winding up petition is a legal notice put forward to the court by a creditor. The creditor petitions to the court if they are owed more than £750 and it has not been paid for more than 21 days. The application, in effect, asks the court to liquidate the company as they believe the company is insolvent.
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