I think it's highly unlikely HMRC challenged it. Absolute worst case would be they said as funds weren't formally distributed by the liquidator as part of the liquidation, that they would be treated as distributions made before the liquidation, ie taxed as dividends. Being honest I think the risk of that is minimal.
For MVLO cases we'd insist on creditors being cleared before our appointment too...but it's not that rare that a client:
- forgot about an old liability, that the creditor only chases when they see the gazette posting,
- didn't know about a new/old liability, as the creditor didn't do a great job of telling them about it,
- is in disagreement with a creditor, client insists they owe nothing, creditor insists otherwise,
- didn't file final tax returns properly,
- thinks liquidation is a way to avoid paying some creditors.
...so sometimes despite the client confirming one thing is the case, it turns out it isn't.
For MVLO cases we'd insist on creditors being cleared before our appointment too...but it's not that rare that a client:
- forgot about an old liability, that the creditor only chases when they see the gazette posting,
- didn't know about a new/old liability, as the creditor didn't do a great job of telling them about it,
- is in disagreement with a creditor, client insists they owe nothing, creditor insists otherwise,
- didn't file final tax returns properly,
- thinks liquidation is a way to avoid paying some creditors.
...so sometimes despite the client confirming one thing is the case, it turns out it isn't.
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