Not paid HMRC or done any paperwork.. how screwed am I?

[mreades]

Hi all,

Long story short, my old accountant was a joke... and so was I... I took money out of my limited business (I'm a new IT contractor) for expenses (reimburse by my client) and personal stuff like food, rent etc and I've not filed a single bit of paperwork with HMRC, I don't have PAYE set up and I've been collecting VAT without paying any to HMRC.

I'm now looking for an accountant to fix this mess. I've got just over 30k in the business account, I must have taken out around 20k for myself during the time I was working.

All I want to do now is close the business, pay HMRC whatever I owe and take what's left in a tax efficient way so I can service another debt that I have.

My accountant was a joke but the real problem here was me. I'm looking to right all my wrongs and get back on track (I'm a fill time employee again, I don't plan on being a contractor again).

Obviously, only an accountant can help me now but I was wondering if anyone here had an idea of what would happen next with me?

Let this be a lesson to all....

[stek]

Over what period was this? Are your final accountants due yet?

[mreades]

Over what period was this? Are your final accountants due yet?

Over a around 8 months form May last year. I think my end of year accounts are a little late at the moment.

[mreades]

Over what period was this? Are your final accountants due yet?

Since May last year. I stopped having clients in December last years. I think my end of year is overdue now.

[mreades]

Since may 2013 although I haven't had a client (or payment) since December 2013. I think my year end is overdue (not 100% sure).

[Scruff]

Sockie of the day 👺

[northernladuk]

Sockie of the day 👺

If it's not at least it's laugh of the day.

[tractor]

..

Occasionally, someone will honestly post a serious question in General by mistake and the Mods will move it to a place where it can be protected from the worst largesse and it will have a chance of sensible discussion for the OP.

I do wish sockie posts could get the reverse treatment

[mreades]

What's a sockie?

I thought I was posting this in the right place?

[Craig at Nixon Williams]

Without knowing exactly how late everything is, I can’t give you firm advice on your situation…your best bet is to phone an accountant and run through everything with them.

The likelihood is that you will have some penalties to pay, the severity of which depends on how late you are with things and how much tax is at stake.

By the sounds of it, you do have some money in the account to pay taxes with though which is a better situation than some find themselves in without the guidance of an accountant.

Craig