Paystream - Company closure

[northernladuk]

Them charging is not a problem - it is the high cost that is the problem..

thank you i dont understand the method of liquidation mentioned - they said it is the capital tax gains method that is causing such a fee- i was wondering if anyone had experienced that

It's a problem you are stuck with. The costs will be documented somewhere. I doubt they are making this up, more likely just being a bit devious about it and slapping you hard when you do need it. I remember SJD charging for absolutely everything not listed in their engagement pack and they weren't overly cheap either. As you can see from those threads it catches a lot of people out and there is nothing they can do about it if it's expensive.

I thought the 600 quid was far too cheap but prices must have tumbled. MVLOnline is doing it for 995+VAT and some other stuff. I'd still be inclined to go with MVLOnline than pay a company that's already got my pants round my ankles.

Here is a link from Maslins MVLOnline site that gives you the high level process
http://www.mvlonline.co.uk/the-process/

You can see from that it's going to cost more. These guys must be 80+ quid an hour so it doesn't take a lot of extra work for £600 to disappear.

[Maslins]

A few questions I'd have following your OP:

1) how long were you contracting via the Ltd Co for? A real bug bear of ours is people who set up a company, join us, use it for 2-3 months, then accept a full time job and get grumpy that we won't do all the work incorporating, registering for taxes, unwinding all that, doing full set of accounts/CT return, all for 2-3 months worth of fees. To my mind it's too cheap and easy to set up a Ltd Co, means people don't really think it through, then they get upset when they have to pay a professional to unpick it all. Like a puppy, a Ltd Co isn't just for Christmas. However, I may be being unfair here and perhaps you've been contracting for years.

2) I doubt they'd be doing a formal liquidation for £600. If they are I think that would be the cheapest price I've seen...but possibly they are. If that is the case, it's a bargain, you won't get it cheaper elsewhere. However, I'd guess maybe it's not a formal liquidation, instead it's just charging a bit extra to account for the fact they're offering to do your personal tax return in 9+ months time despite the fact you're leaving them now.

[VelcroPower]

A few questions I'd have following your OP:

1) how long were you contracting via the Ltd Co for? A real bug bear of ours is people who set up a company, join us, use it for 2-3 months, then accept a full time job and get grumpy that we won't do all the work incorporating, registering for taxes, unwinding all that, doing full set of accounts/CT return, all for 2-3 months worth of fees. To my mind it's too cheap and easy to set up a Ltd Co, means people don't really think it through, then they get upset when they have to pay a professional to unpick it all. Like a puppy, a Ltd Co isn't just for Christmas. However, I may be being unfair here and perhaps you've been contracting for years.

I'm sure Maslins don't do this, but many of the other accountancy companies that contractors will have spoken to on a ring round will have told them that "TAKE HOME PAY IS MORE" and that the most important thing is that "TAKE HOME PAY IS MORE" so not to worry about all the other stuff because "IT'S FREE MONEY, BASICALLY" and mention may be made of closing down costs and that they should be contracting for a year and the accountant doesn't actually do everything for them etc but cognitive dissonance kicks in and the ramifications of opening a Limited Company and running it are waved away like an internal Jedi Mind trick for the sake of some perceived £50 a week extra.

[northernladuk]

I'm sure Maslins don't do this, but many of the other accountancy companies that contractors will have spoken to on a ring round will have told them that "TAKE HOME PAY IS MORE" and that the most important thing is that "TAKE HOME PAY IS MORE" so not to worry about all the other stuff because "IT'S FREE MONEY, BASICALLY" and mention may be made of closing down costs and that they should be contracting for a year and the accountant doesn't actually do everything for them etc but cognitive dissonance kicks in and the ramifications of opening a Limited Company and running it are waved away like an internal Jedi Mind trick for the sake of some perceived £50 a week extra.

Absolute rubbish and what on earth does this have to do with the OPs situation?

[VelcroPower]

Absolute rubbish and what on earth does this have to do with the OPs situation?

Well it doesn't, I'm responding very specifically to Maslin's point as evidenced by the quote.

Your other point is well made and difficult to refute so I'll defer to you on that one.

[Maslins]

Well it doesn't, I'm responding very specifically to Maslin's point as evidenced by the quote.

Yes, possibly it was an unnecessary tangent from me. I was just thinking in terms of possible reasons for "closing costs". Perhaps it is actually an additional charge for closing (some accountants do levy these, many don't). But perhaps it's more that they had only been a client of the accountancy firm for a very short period before deciding to close. Hence it's more analogous to the fact the "monthly fee" is really 1/12 of the annual fee. I was just trying to understand the OP's situation a bit better.

[Jessica@WhiteFieldTax]

To my mind it's too cheap and easy to set up a Ltd Co, means people don't really think it through, then they get upset when they have to pay a professional to unpick it all. Like a puppy, a Ltd Co isn't just for Christmas.

I did once have someone contact me to form a company "as a thirtieth birthday present to myself, as I've always wanted one"

It was an odd conversation.

[Maslins]

I did once have someone contact me to form a company "as a thirtieth birthday present to myself, as I've always wanted one"

Sounds even more odd than the "I want an app for my business" brigade.
"Ok, what do you want it to do?"
"I don't know, I just hear every business should have an app, please build me one."

[northernladuk]

Sounds even more odd than the "I want an app for my business" brigade.
"Ok, what do you want it to do?"
"I don't know, I just hear every business should have an app, please build me one."

We did have the we page equivalent of that asked in here recently to be fair.

[eazy]

Reserves <25K

As long as the amount paid out to shareholders is under £25k, there is no need to report to HMRC and can just go ahead. So the order should be something like this:

•Cease trading
•Do final tax return, including showing the money paid out to shareholders to clear everything off the company books
•Strike off company

To apply to have a solvent company struck off the Register of Companies, Form DS01 must be completed and signed by a majority of the directors. This type of closure will only be permitted if the company can satisfy the following conditions:
•It has paid all of its debts.
•It has not traded or sold stock within the past 3 months.
•The company name has not changed within the last three months.
•It is not threatened with liquidation.
•It does not have any existing agreements with creditors, such as Compulsory Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs).

Form DS01 can be downloaded from the Companies House website and delivered online or by post. A £10 fee will also be required. Companies House will send a letter to your registered office address to confirm acceptance of the application. The striking-off request will then be published in the Gazette in London, Edinburgh or Belfast.
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The additional £600 maybe is preparation of accounts and other admin costs associated with company closure which are not part of the monthly fee.