Help - being messed around by HMRC and debt collection agency :-(

LittleMonkeyPops

I hope someone out there can give me some advice.

My fiance runs a small business, he is a sole trader and due to the disgusting dishonesty of a few of his customers (long story - details not required here and too painful to repeat) he has ended up with several thousand pounds worth of arrears with HMRC.

Since November last year we have been writing to them to try and set up a repayment arrangement. They've lost our letters, ignored our letters, the system in one of their locations doesn't 'talk' to the system in another of their locations so each office has different information, we've been in liaison with 7 different offices now none of whom are talking to each other but as soon as we write to one he gets a demand from a different one... we're tired of this, we just want to resolve it!

A debt collection agency contacted him for part of the debt. He made an arrangement with them, which they wrote and agreed to. He started payments and then the following month he rang them to re-arrange the payment date (so that I could cover it with my salary if he couldn't pay it - cant break an arrangement) at which point they told him that HMRC had disagreed with the arrangement and that they would have to cancel it. They followed that up in writing.

Trying to get anywhere with HMRC is awful. They just keep saying no. They won't agree to an amount he can pay - he's not a tax avoider, he wants to repay for god's sake but they're treating him like a criminal now and it's making us both ill, all the threats and constant letters...

Can anyone tell me how this is supposed to work? Should a debt collection agency be making an agreement with someone and then changing their mind?

I've searched and searched on the internet but all I can find is that HMRC are a law unto themselves so no organisation holds them to account (we can only complain TO HMRC about how they've treated us - our complaint is drafted and is 12 pages long already) and I can't find anything which tells me the 'rules' about how debt collection agencies should work, only that they should be curtious, sensitive, etc.

Help?

jobbingmusician

I think you might be better posting this on a different board, as it's unlikely to get any specialist information on the employment board, I suggest you PM one of the board guides here (sorry, on the guides on THIS board can help - I don't have the power to move posts unless they start on my board!)

I think if I were posting I would try the Cutting Tax board, but as it's a particularly interesting and complex case, you might also like to post a copy on the Citizens Advice Bureau board.

Sorry not to be able to help!

LittleMonkeyPops

@NotMyRealName and pricessdon.

Thank you for your totally unsupportive cutting and rude responses. Next time you have comments like "I have no sympathy" why not stop typing and spare a thought for the people you're being horrid to and what they might actually be going through because this is tearing us apart and all we came here for was some help and advice. My fiance is a good, honest person who works his !!!! off and who has unfortunately (because of his nice gentle nature) been royally shafted by a couple of disgustingly dishonest people, one who is being done for major fraud now and the other who has had some pretty big men looking for him, or so we hear.

And "no one else seems to have had a problem paying them." Really? Clearly you have no idea what you're talking about.

Please don't either of you ever bother hitting reply to me again.

ILW

Bad debts are deductable against VAT payable and tax is only due on profits. Has this been taken into account?

Any

Notmyrealname wrote: »

HMRC are notorious for bankrupting people if they don't pay their tax.

I have no sympathy at all. I put away a percentage of every invoice in a savings account to cover my tax so if a customer doesn't pay their bill, I'm not bricking it wondering how I'm going to pay.

The debt collection agency haven't changed their mind, their client has which they're perfectly entitled to. The only course of action is to let HMRC take it to county court and then make an arrangement there if they refuse to play ball. The alternative is to declare bankruptcy.

??? This post doesn't make any sense.. If the client does not pay what exactly are you supposed to pay into a savings account??
Or have I missed something??

Any

ILW wrote: »

Bad debts are deductable against VAT payable and tax is only due on profits. Has this been taken into account?

Very good point..
If the debts had become bad debts how can there be any tax payable??

emilyjayne_3

HMRC prefer payment arrangements to be discussed and arranged over the telephone. Writing to them to arrange payment is a long winded process, and often we'd just send a letter asking you to phone anyway (obviously it does happen, but its very unlikely to get you anywhere). When you say part of the debt was passed to the DCA, have you arranged payment for the remaining amount with HMRC? If not, get your fianc! to phone. He'll be asked in detail about his business to assess whether a payment plan is viable. If the DCA said HMRC have not accepted the arrangement does this mean the whole debt is now back with HMRC?

Advise him not to get agitated with all the questions about the business, to be honest, and to try and make some form of lump sum up front payment over the phone immediately.

Also, the seven different offices means very little. Local offices and districts effectively no longer exist. A tax office in Glasgow could send a letter to someone in Wales, that's just the base of the officer who picks up the work.

Hope this helps, but defo get him to pick up the phone!

antonic

You have posted the same question here :

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4244133

Which I have responded to and given you all the advice that I can.

I would suggest that in future you only post ONCE, as people like me only reply ONCE to requests for help.

Wywth

antonic wrote: »

You have posted the same question here :

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4244133

Which I have responded to and given you all the advice that I can.

I would suggest that in future you only post ONCE, as people like me only reply ONCE to requests for help.

Duplicated posts are permitted on the CAB board - providing they are only posted in one other place.

Unfortunately in this case, it was a question the CAB do not offer advice on being business related.

Firefox1975

I cannot see how this is anyone else's fault but your fiance's? i cannot see how anyone else is responsible for him not paying tax due on legitimate debts?

But, if your post is just to rant at HMRC then fair enough.

Yes, they are strict, they have to be otherwise disgusting and dishonest people try and fleece them out of Her Majesty's money.

RadoJo

I too am confused as to how your partner can owe tax on money he hasn't received - maybe if you could clarify, people would be able to offer more help.