what's the worst that the taxman can do?

abe111

I am self employed (construction) and I have an outstanding tax bill due to not being able to secure employment since my last contract ended in November 2008. Nor indeed have I been able to receive any benefits. The net result is that we have had to rely on a single income which covers the mortgage and key household outgoings.

I have a tax bill of £7K- just been given 14 days to pay - given my circumstances what are my options? What's the worse they can do?

I have just hit 60 and I am not optimistic about my chances of getting work. I guess my full time job is to find a full time job so I'm getting no closer to paying it off.
Any constructive advice welcomed.

sleepless_saver

abe111 wrote: »

I have a tax bill of £7K- just been given 14 days to pay - given my circumstances what are my options? What's the worse they can do?

Your only option (assuming the bill is actually correct) is to try to negotiate a repayment arrangement you can manage. Don't ignore it, they will only rack up charges.

The worst they can do is go after your assets / make you bankrupt (see link).

dunstonh

What's the worse they can do?

Take you to court. Push for prosecution. Call in the baliffs or even push to bankrupt you.

Dont bury your head in the sand when it comes to the taxman.

abe111

Thanks very much for your prompt replies folks.

You have really helped me to focus my thoughts - so much so that I've decided to go ahead and cash in my pension earlier than I wanted and use what is no a large lump sum to pay off the tax. Other than that I have no current income or savings, so I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet.

Once again thanks for putting me straight.