Winding up company - prep

[thunderlizard]

Good evening folks,
I want to close down a nonprofit limited company that has been ticking over for a few years. I've read the high-level stuff on the .gov website but could do with some advice on what order to do the practical things.
Some facts:
-I am the sole shareholder
-It never made much of a profit, just covered its scant expenses, and has a couple of hundred quid in the bank
-It still owes £1000 startup loan to my main contracting company. Am I right in guessing that it's not cricket to close it down while it still owes that? so really I should personally donate £1000 to the nonprofit so it can clear its debt?
-I've wound it down to the point that its only outgoings are registered office rent, mail forwarding and bank charges on the current account. Not sure how to un-bootstrap!

thanks in advance,
tl

[missinggreenfields]

Could your other company just write off the debt, showing risk and helping to prove that it is a real business?

[VectraMan]

WHS, though the fact you controlled both may look a little dubious to anyone that looks. Not that anyone is likely to.

This is what I did with a small and largely unsuccessful planB co. a couple of years ago:

1. If you're registered for VAT or PAYE, get out of those.
2. Do the annual accounts and CT return, and pay any money owed to HMRC (that bit's important). I waited until the year end to do this but I believe you can do it at any time.
3. If there's anything left pay a final dividend. I left £10 in the account to cover bank charges, but I probably didn't have to.
4. Fill out the DS01 form. Send a copy to HMRC, and take another one to the bank to close the account.

Then after a couple of months you get a notification that the company is no more.

[ASB]

WHS, though the fact you controlled both may look a little dubious to anyone that looks. Not that anyone is likely to.

Given it is connected then it would not normally be allow for CT relief. But other than that, no worries.

Dug this up for OP.

Associated debt | Taxation

[thunderlizard]

Thanks for those suggestions. I can also ask my main company's accountant for advice on the startup loan, so I'll do that too.
Have been reading up a bit more. What confuses me now is bank charges. I understand I need to show 3 months with no money going into or out of the company account...but with a bank charge of £5 every month that's never going to happen is it?

[VectraMan]

Have been reading up a bit more. What confuses me now is bank charges. I understand I need to show 3 months with no money going into or out of the company account...but with a bank charge of £5 every month that's never going to happen is it?

I don't know where you get 3 months from but the company needs to be "not trading" and that doesn't include small admin things like bank charges otherwise it would be impossible. You can also pay out left over money as dividends and I believe sell off any assets without it counting as trading. But IANAA.

When I did it I also worried about every little thing and got frustrated by the lack of clear information, but actually it was fine. The only way it's likely to go wrong is if you close the company still owing money to HMRC, or you leave thousands of pounds in the company account and discover you can't access it any more (there's been a few posts on this forum like that).