Questions re VAT

Hi

Am new to this board, and wondering if anybody could answer some questions I have. (Accountant is away until Tuesday - probably blowing all his money at Cheltenham!!)

My husband is a sole trader, I'm only getting involved now because things are getting too much for him. We have just changed accountant after a few years with another who I didnt feel was very competent. The result of this is that we are trying to bring our VAT up to date. We filed VAT for July/August 2006, the amount was larger than we had at our disposal to pay. I have made three lump sum payments towards it, with quarter of original amount left to pay. Our accountant advised not to file returns for Sept/Oct & Nov/Dec until we had completely paid July/Aug.

We have been working very hard to get this sorted, but came home today to a warrant to pay Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec estimates immediately. Husband received another warrant in work to pay remainder of July/Aug.

My questions are which should we pay first? (in an ideal world obviously we would pay the whole bill) Should I file the returns for Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec without sending money with them? How quickly do we need to pay them before they seize goods? Should we try to contact them and discuss this with them?

Sorry for going on a bit but as you can imagine am going out of my mind with worry. I know that the business should not be operated in this way at all and the goal for the next few months is to clear all outstanding VAT.

Any suggestions would be more than welcome. Thanks

You need professional financial (and possibly even legal) advice on this one.

Thanks for the reply extopia. Our accountant is away until Tuesday so I cant talk to him until then. Generally speaking would we be ok until then regarding paying the warrant, we will have money coming in tomorrow and Tuesday so we will be paying it in full then, so they should have their cheque by next Thursday at the latest. Am I wrong to presume that we have this much time to pay?

I have received these warrants before for a short delay in payment. The VAT office are actually very helpful on these issues when you contact them. Give them a call and tey will advise you what do do.

Thanks BrenG. Will give them a call tomorrow. Wasnt sure whether calling them would be a good thing or not. Hope to pay them next week.

I'd strongly advise you to speak to the Revenue.

The accountants advice not to pay for the missing months is appalling: what you should have done is make a return, (and possibly token payment towards the amount owed) and most importantly initiatiated discussions with them at that point.

Think of it from their point of view: if you don't tell them your situation and just go quiet, how do they know you're not some scam artist who deserves everything they can throw at them?

My own experience is that (a) they will understand if you tell them your situation (b) you will have to pay, but they're open to how it's done and (c) if you agree a payment schedule, make sure it's one you can stick to and (d) don't screw them around (and that includes going silent on them): for some reason, they don't like it......

Forgot to add: try not to worry. They really aren't that bad to deal with if you're genuine and show willing to clear the amount owed. But you need to speak to them!

Thanks ang1170.

Will definitely give the Revenue a call this morning. Am hoping to clear the full amount of the warrant on Thursday, but would like to let them know also. Will also be giving the accountant a call. Thought we left all this behind with the last accountant! How hard is it to get a good accountant? both were recommended to us by people we know well.

Wont be able to stop worrying til all this is sorted. Thanks for your advice and reassurance.

Hi,
You need to phone the Revenue and discuss this with them. They should be able to give you some leyway or at least some advice on what to do.