Looking for some advice please v long sorry :(

wannabdebtfree_3

Hello everyone, I am a regular poster on mse, but stupidly use my real name. I have re registered so my mess of a life is a bit more anonymous

Basically I live with my partner who when we first met had a failing business of which he was earning no income as a result of this he missed payments on his finance and other things and now here we are 3 years on, (having not paid a penny to them) wondering where to go from here. I guess you could call it our light bulb moment as we really want to get this sorted and get ourselves a mortgage for our home (his parents currently own the home we live in and we 'rent' it off them)

my debt consists of: cc1 £1200 0% £20pm
cc2 £3800 0% £85pm
overdraft £650 0%


But it then gets complicated as my partner doesn't know/remember what or how much he owes to who.
I know the inland revenue are chasing him for £7500 for self assessment:eek:
but apparently I have been told because the business wasn't earning any money (ie my partner had no wage) then he shouldn't owe them anything I have no clue what to do about this at the minute, and contact my partner has had with the ir have been totally unhelpful.

I have requested a copy of his credit file which I have here and can make no sense of it, I can find no correspondence from his creditors apart from a bill for £1200 council tax from the previous business. I think the debt adds up to about £25k, but where on earth do I start? I am getting extremely frustrated, and sometimes could kill him :rolleyes:, but he genuinely wants to get this sorted, and I realise it probably been easier for him to bury his head in the sand and ignore it

Anyway, up until recently we have had no surplus cash, yet enough to live and get by without any major luxuries. However since our LBM I have applied and got accepted for a second job, upping my hours from 20 to 40 and generating an extra £550 pm income, this is going to solely go to repaying debts as we are managing without it at the minute.

My partner has got an interview today for a new job which will be £450 more than he gets now :eek:, but it will also reduce his petrol costs by £150pm, so we are looking to pay at least £1000 per month off debt, as we've never had this money before and don't want to get used to it/ start relying on it!!

I'm so sorry that this has turned into such a long post, and if anyone has taken the time to read it thank you so much! I just didn't know what to do or where to start

I've probably included a lot of irrelevant things and missed out a lot of important ones, so if any one has any tips or suggestions I would be so grateful!

xx

Tiglet

Hi, WDF and, er, welcome to the forum...:beer:

Does the IR debt arise from an actual return that your partner has submitted, or is it their assessment of what he has to pay because he hasn't submitted a return? If it's the latter, then he should get the return done and find out what he really owes. Otherwise, you'll need to treat them as a high priority.

Regarding any other debts, I would go back through bank statements, old mail etc. and identify all the creditors you can find. Then write to each one and ask them to send an up-to-date account. That way you should start to get a feel for the scale of the problem so you can work out how best to tackle it. I'm sure there'll be people with more/better ideas than I've got but that should help you get started.

frosty

Hi,maybe speaking to an accountant would help,if they can sort out the tax bill for you and have it reduced its one less thing to worry about.

viccig

Agree with Frosty, those forms are tricky and then at least you can put it out of your mind.

wannabdebtfree_3

Thank you for replying!!
And thanks for the welcome to the forum

I believe the IR bill is estimated tax owed i've got a pile of paperwork relating to the business and some awful forms to fill in, but maybe it would be worthwhile getting someone to look at it for me. How much does an accountant usually cost for this situation? I have no cash at present (start my shiny new job on the 18th) and am praying my o/h gets this job.

With regards to the creditors, I do know my partner has 2x ccjs, as well as numerous defaults, how do I find out who these are to and go about paying them? Oh my god I wish I were cleverer my brain is hurting :rotfl:

Once I've written off to request an up to date account can I then offer them less to settle it ( the reason i'm asking is i'm toying with the idea of saving the spare cash for 6 months or so, so I can approach the creditors with lump sums) The problem is I don't understand how ccjs work and if this is even possible? Is the fact that I have his credit report helpful at all, or is it just confirming - yup you've got a lot of debt?

wannabdebtfree_3

Ps I like the abbreviation of my new name- thanks Tiglet

WDF

embarrassed_about_my_debt

The inland revenue bill being estimated is very bad! Also you need to make sure this hasnt been enforced by the court if he has been ignoring it. In which case there wont be a huge amount you can do.

Sort the paper work into date order in a file, get all business bank statements for the period in question (again in date order) and then and get to an accountant. The more work you do will cut down on the fee you are charged. If you take it in a carrier bag then you will get charged for the accountant having to sort it for you!

Most will give you a free first visit and then give you an idea of the costs involved.

If they are chasing him for returns and money they will be adding penalties and interest which, if he doesnt owe any tax arent due!

If you get it all sorted and he doesnt owe any tax he may get a refund of tax already paid.

If you have any queries feel free to drop me a pm

Hope that helps!

wannabdebtfree_3

Thanks for your advice I'm going to sort the IR first as it is quite scary and fingers crossed we don't owe anything! I've got a headache when I look at his credit report, does anyone know if the tax money and council tax will show on his credit file?

RAS

Hi

Before you start sorting this out, can you take advice from a debt charity about his liabilities, please.

The IR and the COuncil tax do need sorting. You may find that the IR respond better to contact from him directly rather than you. Beyond that, I would advise that you sort debts into any secured debt, recent unsecured debt and those that are nearly 6 years old.

You may find that requesting the credit file awakens all sorts of people.

Amongst other things, it is not unusual for multiple creditors to chase one debt, for creditors to chase debt that is statute barred (more than 6 years old), or to chase debt for which they do not have the legally require paperwork.

Is is not unknown for helpful partners on here to make arrangments to pay debts for which strict liability does not exist, so you need to bone up on the law before you get into things that you do not understand.

Will provide a link in a minute.

RAS

Have a look ropund here

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/index.php

TangledMemories_2

wannabdebtfree wrote: »

I know the inland revenue are chasing him for £7500 for self assessment:eek:
but apparently I have been told because the business wasn't earning any money (ie my partner had no wage) then he shouldn't owe them anything I have no clue what to do about this at the minute, and contact my partner has had with the ir have been totally unhelpful.

xx

*the person who is closing down an unsuccessful business steps into the thread*
Hi Hun, with the Inland Revenue, you really have to face this head-on. Did an accountant do his self-assessment?
My last self assessment came out at me owing £3500 when I submitted last January. However, when the IR checked it and sent a statement confirming, they had doubled it to account for the following year because they estimate your next financial year's return based on what your company did the year before. And unless you put them right...they will chase you head on and threaten you with all sorts.
Unfortunately, my accountant is a bit slow on the uptake and I ended up doing most of his work with my Grandad who is the company secretary AND a qualified accountant. We have since proven to them (and by my nil return this January) that the business was only profitable that year and since then has made a loss.

I lay awake at night scared to death of the Inland Revenue...but you have to stand up to them. The cheeky gits even tried charging me interest because it took them from 22 September 2007 til 20 November 2007 to allocate my payment EVEN WITH my NINO number on the reference!

This is the incompetence you have to deal with. I'm a civil slave *ahem* servant who is unfortunately about to be amalgamated with the Inland Revenue and the Passport Agency and to be honest?! WE'RE DREADING IT!

*HUGS*