considering to cease trading by 30 sep 11

jmeader

hi this is my first post hope its in the right place

ive been told by hmrc that my company owes a £400 penalty for late filing of a form, which i believe is to with employers paye and was due to be submitted online by 19th may

i only discovered it was a problem when i queried how to pay the first 3 months paye of this year, i went to see my accountant and he said he sent me a letter telking me about it but as he didnt send it recorded and we've had problems with the post, i was none the wiser

he sumitted the online form on 8th sep and yesterday i got this penalty which said its £100 for every month its late, it says on the letter its been reduced to £191 because they have used money from somewhere else but i dont understand

my accountant isnt responding so my question is if i cease trading before the start of the company's new financial year on 1st oct 11 and switch back to being a sole trader can i walk away from this money owed? this is not the first time ive had problems and ive paid smaller fines but this time we are not willing to accept it

also, we have quite a few incoming standing orders to the account and some may arrive after the end of the month. if i simply close the account with barclays is it fair to say i wont end up receiving these payments into a new financial year as im keen to avoid this getting messy, i can simply call each client and tell them to send me a cheque for this month and then change the standing order to my own personal account for the new month

ive typed this all on an iphone apologies for any spelling and grammar errors

regards

james meader
jm computer support limited

martindow

So, you have not been paying PAYE you have collected from employees, have received fines and now want to walk away from this and carry on your business leaving a string of debts. I don't know if you can get away with this but I hope you can't. Why should you not have to pay taxes in a timely way as most of us do?

BoGoF

One word - behave. This is not a tax dodging site.

ps how intelligent putting your full name and company name. I shall copy it here in case you edit. Hopefully HMRC are watching

james meader
jm computer support limited

Horace

There is no hiding from the HMRC - sounds to me like you need to change your accountant too. Remember it is not your accountant's responsibility to pay the HMRC what you owe it is your own so there is no saying that you didn't know it is your job to know.

Savvy_Sue

jmeader wrote: »

im keen to avoid this getting messy,

Sorry, but it already IS messy. And what you're suggesting isn't going to make it any less messy. HMRC will still come after you, and will object to the company being closed if you still owe them money.

paulwf

Winding up your Ltd co. and associated bank account and all the transitioning of clients etc sounds like a lot of hassle to avoid paying £191! Think of all the time and effort that you will be spending on this when you could be generating income, and think of the extra accountancy fees. Surely it would make economic sense to just pay up?

jmeader

martindow wrote: »

So, you have not been paying PAYE you have collected from employees, have received fines and now want to walk away from this and carry on your business leaving a string of debts. I don't know if you can get away with this but I hope you can't. Why should you not have to pay taxes in a timely way as most of us do?

you misunderstood me, payments have always been on time so im not guilty of that

my query relates to the accountant's failure to submit the form and warn me it would become a problem, i pay him good money to handle my affairs and have been let down and question why i should pickup the tab? i might add this isnt the first time he's caused me to be fined. so perhaps you'll reply with your thoughts on this

jmeader

BoGoF wrote: »

One word - behave. This is not a tax dodging site.

ps how intelligent putting your full name and company name. I shall copy it here in case you edit. Hopefully HMRC are watching

james meader
jm computer support limited

you fool i came here for advice not to be put down, i just want to know why i should have to pickup the tab for the accountant's error

jmeader

Horace wrote: »

There is no hiding from the HMRC - sounds to me like you need to change your accountant too. Remember it is not your accountant's responsibility to pay the HMRC what you owe it is your own so there is no saying that you didn't know it is your job to know.

ok again the payments have always been made this is purely an online form that is submitted annually that this year failed to do on time and has now cost me a fine so im asking for some advice for what to do not be put down, im considering taking it off his next bill

jmeader

paulwf wrote: »

Winding up your Ltd co. and associated bank account and all the transitioning of clients etc sounds like a lot of hassle to avoid paying £191! Think of all the time and effort that you will be spending on this when you could be generating income, and think of the extra accountancy fees. Surely it would make economic sense to just pay up?

yes agreed, despite negative feedback from people who think ive avoided paying tax ive had some useful comments and i thank you for that

jmeader

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Sorry, but it already IS messy. And what you're suggesting isn't going to make it any less messy. HMRC will still come after you, and will object to the company being closed if you still owe them money.

i disagree, i havent decided to ignore the fine or close the business

infact quite the opposite, ive had some helpful comments encouraging me to discuss this the HMRC and request evidence from my accountant that he filed this form on time. if he cannot prove this i will take it off his bill, i pay him well to handle my affairs and dont expect to pickup the tab for his oversight