HMRC

[dawnlougib]

Hi I have no idea if this is right part of site. I have joined this site for myself but this question is about my ex partner. He has received a statutory letter from HMRC saying that if he doesn't pay £18,000 in 18 days then they will look at making him bankrupt he cannot afford this so won't be able to pay them.He has been paying them a monthly amount but they are saying that this is not enough.
I have heard that they make threats like this but don't go through with it is this true? Also he is in an iva well he hasn't paid into it for nearly 2 years but it hasn't failed yet but is frozen whatever that means and he also has other finance credit cards etc that he is making monthly payments on, how will this go with HMRC and what should he do?.
Should he save to make himself bankrupt if they don't go ahead, should he stop making payments on his other things cards etc? Hope you can help Dawn

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: HMRC

Hi & welcome (at long last lol)

First & foremost HMRC debts won't go Statute Barred so they need paying however I'd suggest your ex contacts HMRC ASAP to stop proceedings or let them make him BR - assuming he's got no / little assets?

It's hard to help with specific points when you're so vague in post 1. For instance if he's £100k in debt and doesn't have a mortgage then is BR such a bad thing? After all it'd be gone in a year. Stay and fight will mean several years of fighting. If they're threatening BR then why stop it? So there are options but what is best is down to your ex.

Niddy.

[dawnlougib]

Re: HMRC

Hi I know it took a while to get here. Thanks for message and like I said I have my own issues to deal with without helping my ex out but he asked me to so I said i would.
I don't know much as what has happened just that he got solicitors letter that payments he was making to them weren't enough and that they wanted payment or would make him bankrupt which I don't think he will object to but it is whether or not they are likely to do it and should he stop paying his other creditors now or when bankrupt if they go ahead with it.
He has no assets ,no mortgage etc.so not worth anything. Dawn

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: HMRC

If he has nothing then why bother paying? Surely BR isn't a bad thing?

As I say I can't presume anything, only your ex knows what is best long term.

[SXGuy]

Re: HMRC

As Niddy says, only your ex knows whats best, but what I can say is. HMRC do not make a song and dance over nothing, they will proceed with bankruptcy for 18k I can tell you that now.

The reason why HMRC arnt happy with his repayments is simple. IF the 18k is made up of tax that's due, they usually require it to be paid all within the same tax year, if you cant, they get stroppy. 2ndly, if its also made up of charges, interest and penalties, they wont be to happy with it being paid off gradually. They would want a sizeable amount to pay it off.

And lastly, what advice has your ex received about the 18k owed to HMRC? sometimes, with a good accountant, they can reduce the liability quite a lot, if your ex just rolled over and accepted whatever HMRC threw at him. I would suggest if BR isn't the best way forward, to seek a good accountant to go over it all first. But I would make sure he pays the accountant, and doesn't mess them around, or you will get no where.

[PlanB]

Re: HMRC

He has received a statutory letter from HMRC saying that if he doesn't pay £18,000 in 18 days then they will look at making him bankrupt . . .

He has been paying them a monthly amount but they are saying that this is not enough.

Also he is in an iva well he hasn't paid into it for nearly 2 years but it hasn't failed yet but is frozen whatever that means and he also has other finance credit cards etc that he is making monthly payments on, how will this go with HMRC and what should he do?

Is this HMRC debt included in his IVA? If so tell him to contact the IVA provider asap to see if they can intervene. Do you know why he hasn't paid into the IVA for nearly two years if he has been able to make regular payments to HMRC as you say so he must have an income? If the IVA hasn't failed then maybe there's a chance it can be resurrected unless he has absolutely no income at the moment. It sounds as if he's got himself into a bit of a pickle and needs to contact everyone involved in sorting out his finances for help.

Can you give us a little more information about the other debts he's paying. I wonder whether he might be better off challenging those debts and paying more to HMRC so that they agree to set-aside his SD.

If he's your ex-partner are you relying on him for any finance to support you in any way? If he goes BR this could be affected.

[PlanB]

Re: HMRC

what advice has your ex received about the 18k owed to HMRC? sometimes, with a good accountant, they can reduce the liability quite a lot, if your ex just rolled over and accepted whatever HMRC threw at him. I would suggest if BR isn't the best way forward, to seek a good accountant to go over it all first.

It's possible that while the HMRC debt is being challenged they would be in some difficulty obtaining an order for bankruptcy anyway.

[PlanB]

Re: HMRC

I have my own issues to deal with without helping my ex out but he asked me to so I said i would. .

. . should he stop paying his other creditors now or when bankrupt if they go ahead with it.

I should have asked you whether any of your ex-partner's debts are joints debts with your name on the account too. This is important because if he goes BR then those creditors may come after you if they can't get the money from him.

[dawnlougib]

Re: HMRC

Hi he does have an income and works seven days a week but hasn't been paying HMRC as said he couldn't afford it and got into trouble and it just built up . This debt is not included in the iva and the iva was in joint names but when we separated it was separated and I continued mine alone but he just didn't contact his or make payments to them. None of the debts are in joint names so I am ok on that one.
The other things he is paying monthly are his monthly payments to his credit cards that he is using now that's why I asked whether he should stop paying these as it wouldn't look good.
I have 3 children with him but I don't rely on him for support as he says he can't afford it so I do that alone.

[Pixie]

Re: HMRC

It's good that you're trying to help him, especially as he isn't paying you any support for your children.

It's looking like BR might be the answer for him. If he does go BR then his current credit cards would be included so he might be best not to pay them (no doubt he's only making minimum payments). Are any of these credit cards business ones? I'm assuming that he's self-employed as he's built up such a large debt to HMRC. Would he be able to carry on working without access to credit?

[PlanB]

Re: HMRC

he does have an income and works seven days a week . . . . . The other things he is paying monthly are his monthly payments to his credit cards . . .

I have 3 children with him but I don't rely on him for support as he says he can't afford it so I do that alone.

You seem to be on good terms with your ex which is really helpful. You say the only reason he's not paying towards his three children is because he can't afford it, not because he doesn't want to support them. Maybe if he wasn't paying those creditors he would be able to provide for his children. Their wellbeing should definitely come before HMRC.

If he went bankrupt I'm pretty sure any Child Maintenance Service order would be recognised so you and the kids would get your money ahead of the queue of creditors. You ought to be able to set this up amicably with your ex. I'm sure he'd rather the money went to his kids in preference to the tax man.

I'll also ask someone else to pop in and give you some information on bankruptcy and child support.

[Riz]

Re: HMRC

If he went bankrupt I'm pretty sure any Child Maintenance Service order would be recognised so you and the kids would get your money ahead of the queue of creditors. You ought to be able to set this up amicably with your ex. I'm sure he'd rather the money went to his kids in preference to the tax man.

Yes, that is correct.

(a) Any debt accrued under such an order is not written off by the bankruptcy order and (b) payments under the order should be taken as being a reasonable demand on the income of a bankrupt by the Official Receiver or trustee in bankruptcy.

[Riz]

Re: HMRC

Hi I have no idea if this is right part of site. I have joined this site for myself but this question is about my ex partner. He has received a statutory letter from HMRC saying that if he doesn't pay £18,000 in 18 days then they will look at making him bankrupt he cannot afford this so won't be able to pay them.He has been paying them a monthly amount but they are saying that this is not enough.
I have heard that they make threats like this but don't go through with it is this true? Also he is in an iva well he hasn't paid into it for nearly 2 years but it hasn't failed yet but is frozen whatever that means and he also has other finance credit cards etc that he is making monthly payments on, how will this go with HMRC and what should he do?.
Should he save to make himself bankrupt if they don't go ahead, should he stop making payments on his other things cards etc? Hope you can help Dawn

If HMRC have had a statutory demand served then they are quite likely to go through with it unless he can get it stopped somehow.

HMRC don't bluff much when it gets to that stage.

A lot of the time they will go ahead with bankruptcy even if they will lose out in the end by doing so. As a deterrent and means of closing the file.

[PlanB]

Re: HMRC

(a) Any debt accrued under such an order is not written off by the bankruptcy order and (b) payments under the order should be taken as being a reasonable demand on the income of a bankrupt by the Official Receiver or trustee in bankruptcy.

Thanks for that Riz.

The statutory demand has already been served on Dawn's ex-partner which leaves no time for Dawn to get a Child Maintenance Order before any bankruptcy proceedings (unless he can get that postponed due to a challenge to the amount of debt HMRC are claiming); do you think if she got an order subsequently (even by consent) this would 'slot in' to the ex-partner's BR? Or only an order which was established before the BR?

[PlanB]

Re: HMRC

If HMRC have had a statutory demand served then they are quite likely to go through with it unless he can get it stopped somehow.

HMRC don't bluff much when it gets to that stage.

A lot of the time they will go ahead with bankruptcy even if they will lose out in the end by doing so. As a deterrent and means of closing the file.

Bastards