shellshocked and devastated

Soubrette

As you have personal debts too (the tax ones) I think you are justified in seeing CAB.

Sou

IF

Hello penny, You ramble on! Sorry can't be much help with your plight. I'm glad the pack came and your taking the steps to sort out things with OH. Wish you all the best and do let us know how you get on lol x

grey_lady

Hi, it wasn't me that pointed out about CAB not handling business debts. I pointed out that you apparantly had the money to pay your tax bill but didnt. So either there was a gap beween contracts and the company wasnt bringing in the money you thought, OR it was spent without your knowledge.

That's why you need to go through your bank statements with your accountant and a fine tooth comb.

I'm saying that because if there is something you dont know about, the sooner you understand what's actually going on, the sooner you can deal with it. I'm suprised that the accountant wasnt your tax representative before.

It's important to stick to the repayment plan, if you need help with budgets etc the debt free board is really good at that.

misstraddy

Hi Penny

I totally understand what you are going through as my OH and I are in exactly the same situation, both directors of a limited company. We have spoken to Business Debtline and they have been helpful. We owe varying amounts of Corporation Tax, P11D Tax and Suppliers Debts. We have now instructed an Insolvency Practitioner to propose a CVA and sincerely hope that it is accepted. HMRC will have the casting vote. We have been struggling for months and it is so tempting just to bury your head in the sand and hope it will go away but sadly it wont. We are now trying for a CVA and hope that it is accepted. If the company goes into liquidation, then I will go bankrupt because I have personally guaranteed bank loans, supplier accounts, etc. I know how you feel about HMRC, they can be condescending and I know how difficult it is to arrange a payment that you can afford. We owe personal tax as well, and they want at least £1000 per month, which we cannot afford but I just try and speak to them on a monthly basis and keep drip feeding in the hope that it will keep them at bay.

Try and stay positive, I know how hard it is when it is a husband and wife team and it dictates your whole life.

Good Luck

wireframe_2

Er...can we just get some clarification here - as has been pointed out more than a couple of times, you do seem to have a massive monthly income (~6k)
and no real accounting for where at least half of it goes. And there is the 55k shortfall you can't account for.

Did you find out where the 55k goes?
And what happens to the ~3k you have left at the end of your living costs each month?

grey_lady

Just a guess - but supposing that's the gross income turnover, say 17.5% goes to the VAT man. Then mobile phone bill, wages, NI all come out. OP has implied that her OH works away and for such a good rate I'm guessing he's in London, so presumably he rents a room there or pays to stay in a hotel which has got to cost a few hundred every month, then daily travel, weekend home travel, daily food all on expenses.

Once all that has come out of the monthly income I can see how there wouldnt be much more than the 5.5k they're taking out every month in dividends, the corp tax money should have been put to one side and then the dividend taken out of what's left.

Good luck with the budget trimming OP - just a thought but if you sell the car that's worth the most and make do with the one car, and use that money to pay down some of the debt it might make the monthly repayments smaller.

wok_boy

Penny,

I'm surprised your accountant hasn't suggested letting HMRC wind up the limited company. LTD companies are by definition a separate legal identity and limited liability. So that doesn't impact on your personal liability, unless you or your other half have made any guarantees to the company.

However if either of you do decide to go BR you will be disqualified from being directors for the period of the BR.

Sunnylooloo

Hi Penny

Sorry can't really give any advice as the whole business thing goes over my head, but just wanted to say you seem to have got some good advice here so far and to be honest I don't think you would lose anything by going to the CAB appointment, it may be good that you and OH sit there with an independent person and get all the debt on the table and then you can sort out personal from business and go from there.

Keep in contact with your accountants (I know my bosses accountant is a god send and he helps sort out so much and also has the hassle of dealing HMRC as I know that must be stressful).

Just remember none of us are here to judge in anyway shape or form we are just here to offer you support where we can, so just keep posting and as wishes says ramble away - I know I do!!

I hope you manage to enjoy the long weekend and just remember this can be sorted and there is a solution.

Take care
LL

NigelFoster

I've not been here long enough to give full advice but I wish you luck.

The only thing I would say is that you need to start thinking of the limited company debts as just that, the debts of a limited company.

They are not your personal debts and you should treat them seperately.

grey_lady

Winding up the company might be the best option, the OP's OH could work through an umbrella. But it's a serious step to take, HM R&C have transferred liability in the past to individual directors and bankrupted them when they thought that the director was negligent. So it's worth getting professional advice on the chances of that happening.


Don't know if a CVA (corporate equivalent of an IVA) might be a possibility?