my company is insolvent, what is my situation

B

big biffo

Guest
No bull, this is the situation as it stands and I would appreciate some genuine advice if any of you have come across this before.
I have a ltd company which is no longer viable due to the amount of bad debt that is happening out there, at the moment my company is owed approx 110k but I would be lucky to collect 50k of that cause no one has money to pay their bills.
I have one major creditor and that happens to be the revenue to the tune of 200k in vat some of which was under declared and some of which is in an installment arrangement. At most I owe approx 20k extra some to printer and landlord and office supply and thats it.
With regard the revenue I have an installment arrangement with them since feb 07 and so far paid them approx 100k off old bills dating back to 04 and 05 and 06. And there is 50k owing on that now but unfortunatley since nov 07 the vat started to slip again and now I'm back to where I started in Feb 07.
At the moment I'm dealing with someone in Sarsfield house but as far as she is concerned she just wants money and doesnt give a hoot where I get it. She doesnt care that half my customers were flooded prior to xmas and I couldnt very well go with cap in hand looking for accounts to be settled when you see them crying on the 6 one news. She doesnt care that the roads were lethal for the 1str 2 weeks in jan so I couldnt get out and get money and no one had money to give. Year on year its crazy but for the 1st 6 weekes in 09 cash collection was 48k and this year same period has been 22k and I still have same overheads as last year. Since 22nd of dec I have paid revenue 12k but as she said to me on friday she is now going to call in the installment arrangement and it will be sent to baliffs to deal with then.
My year end is 28th feb and I cant go on any more cause the chances of trading out of it are none existent.
What I want to know is a) will the revenue come after me personally for the money owing ( bear in mind about 150k is under declared in vat). Is this fraudelant trading cause I've asked my accountant and he is not too sure whether it is or maybe its reckless trading? he just shrugsd his shoulders and says he never came across this before. All through the 10 years that I've traded I didn't take a wage for three of those years and at most I have taken approx 180k and I have no secret stash anywhere.
Has anyone been through this before or are any of you an accountant or civil servant that knows more than I do.
I would genuinely appreciate helpful replys
 
You really need to speak with an insolvency expert. If your accountant is not sure about how to help then maybe they can refer you to an appropriately qualified person. It appears from what you say that the company is clearly insolvent and continuing to trade while insolvent may have personal implications for you even without there being any possible issues of recklessness or fraudulent trading.
 
What I want to know is a) will the revenue come after me personally for the money owing ( bear in mind about 150k is under declared in vat). Is this fraudelant trading cause I've asked my accountant and he is not too sure whether it is or maybe its reckless trading?
It is tax fraud to under declare your vat, basically you are stealing.
 
It is tax fraud to under declare your vat, basically you are stealing.

Rather simplistic approach there PATRAFTERS, there could be a number of reasons that are not stealing for under declaration of VAT.

For example an accountant could have been fulfilling this function for the op and made errors.
 
As posted already talk to your accountant and solicitor. If your company is insolvent you must cease trading immediately unless say for example you think you can sell the company and raise sufficient funds to clear all debts or get a new fresh investment of capital.

After talking to your accountant or solicitor ensure that they put you in touch with an insolvency practioner who can carry out the liquidation.

It is important to act fast in order to avoide any personal liability.

Best of luck
 
In any insolvency situation the most important thing is to act quickly. If you know you are insolvent and continue to trade, take credit or otherwise engage in commercial activity you put yourself in danger of being struck off or in the worst case being charge with wreckless trading.

If you are seeking a liquidator, make sure you get a reputable one and be aware that many are now turning business away. There is an excellent article which explains well what to look out for if liquidating a company. I can't paste the link but I am happy to send it to you if you wish

The most important thing to realise is that it is not the ed of the world and there is pleanty of good advice available to you

Here is the article : [broken link removed] .
 
Back
Top