Wife possible bankruptcy/DRO?

Grumpelstiltskin

fatbelly said:

Usually when HMRC hit someone like your wife with a large bill it's just a figure plucked from the air because they have not received a completed tax form(s)

The forms for previous years are still available and hmrc can tell you which ones they want.

It may be worth talking with an accountant at that stage - may save you more than they cost.

If you end up going for a DRO the main suppliers are CAB and Money Wellness. Stepchange won't do them.

The decision about beneficial interest is made by the Insolvency Service but it is the debt adviser who tends to get nervous about it so yes it could be an issue though in my opinion it shouldn't be.

fatbelly explained here you can't do a DRO yourself.

magpies79

Yeah thanks.

 so guess what I’m asking if it’s come back with recommending bankruptcy does that mean they won’t entertain DRO at all then 
appreciate the replies 

ManyWays

I think you should ask MW this

magpies79

Yeah I’ll get her to ring Monday think she has an appointment on Tuesday with another place as well 

RAS

You are just moving too fast. This needs to be done in stages, as fatbelly has advised. They were a fixture (forgive the expression fb) on MSE when I joined and even then supported people facing insolvency, so listen.

And remember although for practical purposes this affects you, it is your wife's mess. She needs to take ownership, with your support. Otherwise she'll feel incompetent, incapable and will not learn how to manage her finances in the way that's important for her and your futures.

Start by helping her investigate the extent of the mess with HMRC. She makes the call, sends the message or write the letter. And collects together what paperwork and evidence she has support proper tax assessments. Boring but vital. 

magpies79

Appreciate the reply and yes i understand what your saying I’m just trying to collect as much information as possible so we have some idea on steps and what happens.

upon talking to her it appears she has never filed her tax on time and for at least 10 years has never paid tax or very little and has been hiding the letters
she was on the phone with the tax office on Friday
for 1 hour and they  stated on the phone that looking at her file the figure is likely to increase as there is also a change in tax code to be actioned to recoup around £300 a month.

They have also sent through paper work showing all charges and where she has submitted her tax returns and it’s shows a lot of none payment of tax!!!
can post if needed? 

I suppose the biggest problem is and totally agree she needed to get all the info from tax with a proper breakdown which she seems to be doing but isn’t the outcome likely the same for example if they came back and said right your bill is actually 10k not 21k isn’t the situation still the same they want it cleared in 12 months 15 tops which is not possible at all.

And we are a week off with them sending people round to try take possession of items so think that’s adding a lot of stress so apologies for waffling on and appreciate your help.

Sorry just to add when she also rang the women who visited the house and stated that she will be moving to try and recover goods at some point my wife explained she was seeking financial advice from a few organisations and she ask for an update today what should we say? 

magpies79

And remember although for practical purposes this affects you, it is your wife's mess. She needs to take ownership, with your support. Otherwise she'll feel incompetent, incapable and will not learn how to manage her finances in the way that's important for her and your futures.

And on this part couldn’t agree more so again appreciate the advice 

sourcrates

It will depend on the final figure HMRC come up with, but ultimately this may be taken out of her hands as HMRC are prone to making those that owe them money, bankrupt anyway.

I`m guessing it won`t be a blanket approach they take, the debtor would surely have to posses assets worth taking to justify the cost of being made bankrupt.

Bankruptcy is not nearly as bad as it once was, does she have assets/money/savings at all?

It would be the better choice in my opinion, especially if her debts top 50k.

magpies79

Debts add upto around 22k for HMRC alone plus now taking £300 a month from tax code starting from next pay plus around 4-5k other debts that some are wiyh debt agency’s and some are active but are paid late or missed due to not having funds. The taking £300 a month off her going forward is going to make things a lot more harder as didn’t have enough money as it was.

 owns a car it’s worth around 3k works in a school so don’t believe there’s any restriction if that was to happen with regards being made bankrupt.

As for assets none in her overdraft no savings no inheritance due just what was mentioned with regards me being on the mortgage with ex wife so the whole beneficial interest situation is a bit worrying.

And that’s my feeling all communication with HMRC is the payment plan can’t be any longer then 15 month which basically pushes her to DRO/Bankrupt because no way she could do that plus as you’ve mentioned ultimately I think they will end up going down that road anyway and personally if it wasn’t for the stress of them attending the house while we have 2 kids here and putting them through the stress of it I’d say leave it because then they pay for the bankruptcy fees I believe? But we can’t wait and go through all that.

Again thanks as always 

RAS

Who exactly was this person who came round? What documentation did she leave. Name, company and phone number.

The only people who can come and take things are bailiffs, which is possible for HMRC debt.

If that's the case she needs a whole lot of different advice very quickly