What to do, frankly.

I'veGotBills

Thanks for your help.

TheMillions

Hello
Can I ask what kind of tax you owe on the business and personally - Vat? Corp Tax? PAYE

Is the business ltd or are you self employed?

There will be lots of people coming in to give you words of wisdom.

I'veGotBills

The business debt is corporation tax, 6.5k and the other debt is income tax from another country which HMRC is collecting on their behalf through a MARD.

The amounts are correct and I am prepared to pay it all but I just don't want to lose the house, and I'd like to eat every day and heat the house.

midnitegremlin

Maybe ring one of the charities (or all of them) if it's this bad, especially if there are children involved.

sourcrates

I'veGotBills wrote: »

The business debt is corporation tax, 6.5k and the other debt is income tax from another country which HMRC is collecting on their behalf through a MARD.

The amounts are correct and I am prepared to pay it all but I just don't want to lose the house, and I'd like to eat every day and heat the house.

I would urge you to ring them and try to sort out another payment arrangement with them.
HMRC, as you know, have wide ranging powers to collect tax owed to them :


https://www.gov.uk/if-you-dont-pay-your-tax-bill


They could take legal action, but I suspect the next step would be debt collectors contacting you, you may be able to make more suitable arrangements with them, as they tend to be more flexible.

pelirocco

My advice would be don't wait for debt collectors , HMRC can be very inflexible.You need to do a realistic cashflow forecast, work out what you can afford to pay and contact them Monday , follow it up in writing.If they won't agree to it get advice asap, probably insolvency practitioner will be best, they should at least do a free initial meeting.

TakeAwayKing_2

Which is troubling you more? The company debt or the personal debt?

katsu

have you spoken to Business Debtline? try them for advice

I'veGotBills

Thanks for all the replies.

The personal bit concerns me more because the company, I am fairly sure, can just pay it off as quickly as it can but the personal debt, as I see it, one they have less reason to be patient as I had a plan and failed on it and two, it is more directly my own liability. But I will call them on Monday and reason why them. I am earning so can pay it off, just takes a wee while. I was in a very dark place on Saturday but I took some control and feel better. The worst part is that when I tighten my belts, it involves the kids and that is hard, saying no to them. Still, all part of life.

And I might very well end up calling one of the charities, just for some advice if nothing else.

DawnW

I'veGotBills wrote: »

I was in a very dark place on Saturday but I took some control and feel better. The worst part is that when I tighten my belts, it involves the kids and that is hard, saying no to them. Still, all part of life.

And I might very well end up calling one of the charities, just for some advice if nothing else.

It is indeed part of life, and as such, children need to learn about it But stressed, desperate parents are far more likely to affect a child's wellbeing than not having the latest tat. Please do contact one of the charities, and take care.

poppasmurf_bewdley

I'veGotBills wrote: »

My wife and I are in trouble. Lots of debt costing us every month but we have just about managed. We have a very large family but are earning decent amounts but now we are in proper trouble with HMRC and frankly, I am scared and I know that my wife is suffering badly too.

The main issue is that HMRC are collecting tax we owe abroad when we lived and worked overseas. The total debt was 21k in 2013 and we paid every month for two years and got it down to just under 13k but for various reasons (mainly head in the sand), we have not paid anything on the payment plan for months (me 6 months, her 4 months). We got letters yesterday telling us to pay the lot now.

My main concern is that I suspect that they will not accept a payment plan as we had one and it failed and although we have a mortgage, we do have decent equity in the house which means I worry that they will try to take that. Will they? We have NO other assets, car is on HP and I doubt they want my old TV or a sofa bought in a charity shop. Realistically, how long do I have until they come with an order to seize goods and assets?

But the troubles don't end there. The main reason we are in arrears, which is most of the time with some bills, is that we run our own business and we have NO savings and NO buffer. It is almost impossible to promise to pay on a specific date because I could have nothing for a month and then 2-3k all of a sudden when a customer pays.

But it gets worse. Because of this, I have a director's loan in the business of 10k, the company has an overdraft of 10k (all used up) and HMRC wants over 6k now from the business in tax. I have managed to arrange a payment plan in the past but now they say no because of the director's loan as they say I have spent the money I should have used for tax, which is true, but I still don't have the money.

So, all in, I owe HMRC 19k due right about Monday morning 9am and I have a tenner, quite literally. The business does have money due to it, ca. 9k, over the next 60 days but we need 4-5k monthly to pay all the bills, debt etc. not counting arrears, so I will struggle to pay this off quickly. I am stuck in a catch 22 because as long as I have no buffer and no savings, I live hand-to-mouth and can never promise to pay x pounds on y date meaning I build up arrears and charges, but I cannot save for a buffer when I need to pay down my debt. Was it not for the debt, I would have over 2k left every month, even with the mortgage paid.

So, how scared should I be of HMRC and how long do they take? I really don't want to loose the house because we have kids (lots of them) and would never get another mortgage and would struggle to rent (and we are too old and tired to move again).

How on earth can you be spending £4-5k every month?

You need to get your SOA up on here so that people can see what you are spending.

That amount of spending would send anybody not earning £75k plus a year into debt very, very quickly.