HMRC Bankruptcy Petition received

Essex-girl_2

Hi Everyone

Posting on behalf of family member -

Long story short I am a sole trader in the haulage industry, over the last couple of years things have been tight & have been late paying HMRC vat - had couple of their agents at the door but I have never been in - was very stressed last year and didnt deal with things. Now am on anti depressants, business is ticking over and am starting a part time job next month which will give me a little more money and decided this was the year to sort my life out.

Anyway have today received a Petition for Bankruptcy for February apparently there was date for petition of 23/12/13 but this has now been extended to 21/2/14 I obviously did not deal with that statutory demand - I was in a bad place last year, sorry that is not meant to sound like an excuse more an explanation.

The balance is £26k - I do have personal unsecured borrowing and not a very good credit score so no means of getting finance. the business is picking up and with working next month I would be able to offer to pay HMRC £200-£250 pw. I do not own a car, have a joint mortgage with OH, if the house was sold there would probably be around £15000 of my equity - I do have a 15 year old son living at home. Only possible personal assets are a couple bits of jewellry at round £200 max.

Is there anyway I can stop this bankruptcy or is it unavoidable now?

Essex-girl_2

OK - update

We have spoken to Business Debt Advice who were really helpful and the current situation is that we are speaking to an Insolvency Practioner and looking into an IVA.

National_Debtline

Hi Essex-girl

Not sure if your last post was intended to signal that you no longer required advice but anyway...

An IVA might be a way of staving off the threat of bankruptcy, but please be aware that if HMRC are owed 25% or more of your total debt, they may be able to veto an IVA and stop it getting off the ground if they are not happy with the terms offered.

If this happens, then other options for you to consider might include offering HMRC a "charge" against your share of the property.

You might also want to call the following numbers for free, impartial advice.

Taxaid 0345 120 3779 www.taxaid.org.uk
Business Debtline (our colleagues) 0800 197 6026 www.bdl.org.uk

In the meantime, at the risk of stating the obvious, it will help your cause if you can start paying anything towards the VAT bill at the first opportunity.

Good luck

Dennis @NDL

Essex-girl_2

Thank you for your post.

Yes we have been advised that the property charge is an option.

antonic

You also need to be aware that if the IVA fails then HMRC *may* immediately petition for your bankruptcy anyway.

If you arent worried about your credit history being shot to pieces, if you let HMRC make you bankrupt then there are no bankruptcy fees (or IVA fees) to pay.

Hope this helps.

Essex-girl_2

Thanks Antonic

Yes fully aware - Business Debtline were very helpful