Can HMRC caim back a gift?

mollyw

Hi I am new here but have a worry that I hope you can help me with. A couple of years ago my ex partner the father of my children gifted me 40k to pay off my mortgage. He is now telling me he may be in financial trouble which could lead to him owing the taxman a lot of money and also may lead to bankruptcy.
My question and worry is, can/will they ask me to repay the money he gifted me? I'm quite old now nearing 60 and this is a great worry to me as I obviously don't have the money and would probably have to sell my home to get it..
Thanks for any help.

Darksparkle

What is it he's actually done that means he owes them?

mollyw

I'm not quite sure why he owes them. He just said he might owe them and he's worried, so I wanted to know where I stand. Does it matter why he would owe them? I can find out if it's important. I just want to know where I stand I don't really want to get involved with him and his problems.

molerat

In some circumstances they can so you need to know the reasons for him owing the tax man and where the money he gifted you came from.

CLAPTON

the timing may be important
if he gave the money when he was ok financially then you would be in a better situation, than if he gave it away when he knew that he was struggling

chrismac1

There's a lot of hoops HMRC needs to jump through to get any money out of you. Firstly assuming the gift came from your partner personally, he would need to be made bankrupt in person. Note that most people who have £40k to spare for gifts run limited companies. If his limited company enters liquidation, and he had legally withdrawn the £40k into a personal bank account via salary or dividends, tough luck HMRC end of story.

Back to the worst case scenario which is personal bankruptcy. The trustee in bankruptcy has a duty to chase down all the assets, which at this point in time does not include the £40k. The trustee would need to identify the £40k AND show the Court that it was a payment made with some kind of intent to cheat the creditors. This is quite feasible if the payment was made 2 weeks ago, but seems to be stretching the bounds of credulity for one made 2 years ago.

So in my view you can relax. Your ex-partner should consult a reputable insolvency practitioner who does not just think of his or her fees - which in my view is the minority of them - for good quality advice he can rely on.

patanne

Just to say - do not give HIM any money - wait for HMRC to come after you personally. He could be telling you a story because he is short of funds. Which is not your problem. If they do come to you get an accountants advice. Arrears of child maintenance maybe to avoid being referred to the CSA as it was?