Big Big Big debt owed in tax.

davethetaller

rog2 wrote: »

There can be no guarantees when it comes to HMRC as they are a particularily strange animal. However, if they had decided to go for 'fraud' I think your friend would have been the subject of 'in-depth' investigation by now.
If, as in my case, they are threatening bankruptcy, I assume that he has already had a CCJ taken out against him, by HMRC. This will be followed, assuming he has not paid the CCJ, by the service of a Statutory Demand, giving him a further 18 days to come to an arrangement with HMRC.
Quite soon after those 18 days (in my case it was about 2 weeks) he will be served with a petition for bankruptcy and will have to attend the High Court, London, where he will, quite painlessly, be declared bankrupt.
The Official Receiver will, probably, ask to see any invoices/accounts for the last 2-3 years, although in some cases they can go back as far as 5 years.
The OR will, probably, have done a criminal record search, but unless it is mentioned, by the OR, there would be no need for your friend to volunteer the fact that he has served a prison sentence for fraud. The decision as to whether a BRO is issued will be taken by the OR, based on the evidence he/she has.
Once your friend walks out of the high court, his debts are no longer his responsibility.

rog2,Many thanks again for your extra information.

What puzzles me however is your last statement.Have I not read somewhere that there are some debts that are NEVER written off,amongst them from memory,student loans, and tax due to the I/R?I hope that I have it wrong,are you sure,... or anyone else with an opinion?

rog2

davethetaller wrote: »

rog2,Many thanks again for your extra information.

What puzzles me however is your last statement.Have I not read somewhere that there are some debts that are NEVER written off,amongst them from memory,student loans, and tax due to the I/R?I hope that I have it wrong,are you sure,... or anyone else with an opinion?

There ARE some debts that can NOT be included in Bankruptcy, such as Student Loans, and certain Crown Debts, but unpaid Tax certainly CAN be included in Banktuptcy.

chambers007_2

You say that he was self-employed. Was he a sub-contractor-if so there will be vouchers. If not, did his line of work involve cash payments? If so, he can argue with the tax office that he did not earn alot, so they will reduce the tax owed. If the payments are cash, the HMRC cannot prove his income at all.
They will have no case. The only thing he will have to pay is his penalty for late filing of his tax return.

good luck

davethetaller

chambers007 wrote: »

You say that he was self-employed. Was he a sub-contractor-if so there will be vouchers. If not, did his line of work involve cash payments? If so, he can argue with the tax office that he did not earn alot, so they will reduce the tax owed. If the payments are cash, the HMRC cannot prove his income at all.
They will have no case. The only thing he will have to pay is his penalty for late filing of his tax return.

good luck

Many thanks chambers007 for your thoughts.

He is calling to see me later today,and I can modify this if wrong.
I am pretty sure what happens is that a firm that he collects work from,give him a town to work at for a week or so.He calls in to speak to all kinds of businesses in that area,and offers them a service(like an ad.in a local paper that would run for a number of months etc.),takes a deposit,made out to the firm that he collects work from,and on to the next one.

He would a week later,pay in to the firm the cheques.

He collects his wages in cash at that time.

He believes himself to be self employed,not receiving holiday/sick pay/company car/petrol allowance or other benefits.

The company that he collects work from,have other agents who do the same thing in other areas,and tell people who do work for them, that they are liable for their own tax/ins.stamps etc.

Periodically,the Revenue turn up at the offices,and ask for information on a nunber of employees, that they select at random.For the last 15 years or so,his name has never been pulled out of the hat!

maxmycardagain

didnt he notice he wasnt paying tax and stamp? hes blown his state pension rights for sure!

davethetaller

maxmycardagain wrote: »

he traded for 15 years and HMRC didnt know?

and he wasnt on the dole?

and HMRC didnt ask



top man!


lol

I assume that "lol" means "laugh out loud" NOT "lots of love"!!!

Going through my friends posts on here,and knowing his self destructive ways,it really made me laugh!!!

Thanks for lightening up what is a dour subject.

debt_doctor

Maybe blown his state pension rights but will get pension guarentee credit of £120 per week which is more than state pension anyway !

DD

[Deleted User]

Dont worry so did, Ken Dodd

Happiness is the greatest gift that you possess

davethetaller

Yant1 wrote: »

Dont worry so did, Ken Dodd

Happiness is the greatest gift that you possess

So here we are,4 months on from my original post, final (short) episode.

In my first post I said that the Revenue were demanding £80,000.

That was just to get their foot in the door as it were.

The bottom line was £400,000!

A month or so ago,he petitioned to go B/R,and from this first inception,it was

all done and dusted within 3 weeks.

Without exception,everyone that he dealt with was (overly)polite!

He received a B/O for 1 year,with a 3 year BRO @£400 per month.

He will be able to pay this,as he continues in the same well paid job,but this

time keeping accurate records!

Many ,Many thanks,to all who contributed,and gave him hope.

betterlatethannever

Thanks for the update.

It sounds like your friend got off fairly lightly, although with restrictions in place.

I know someone (don't we all) who did a similar thing which went on for 10 years. He then he lost his bottle and went to HMRC and admitted all. He expected to get a massive bill and all they said was, pay us £3000 and thats it. He was shocked. Don't know if it was his honesty that helped but he's now a good little lad and pays all the tax he should. But his bill should have been much more than 3k