contracting with a dissolved Company.. Recruitment agency didn't notice

[cojak]

Good luck Whitelighteningwarrior. I hope you get this sorted out.

[SueEllen]

The bit I Still dont get is that when a company is dissolved (letters in the Gazette and all that) the bank in quesiton will close the account and all monies are handed over to HMRC aren't they?
So ahead of that time, the contractor will have had to let the agency know that their account number was changing and sent them the number of a personal account. I can see that mid contract this might have got through, but for subsequent contracts I'm not sure it would.

The agencies concerned haven't done due diligence to check the company wasn't dissolved. In subsequent contracts he would just supply them with paperwork for the dissolved company and they would have accepted it.

Bank payments are done on numbers not names so that makes it much harder to find out if an account is business or personal. Even the agencies who ask for a bank statement can't check properly as fraudsters can fake all this information especially if the agency asked for scans or photocopies.

The only company who could have got suspicious is the bank. However if he wasn't making a lot of obvious business transactions and was getting paid once a month they would have concluded it was just his salary.

[SteelyDan]

not sure if anyone can help? I am also not sure how this hasn't been picked up but I'm aware of a contractor that has been contracting for several years under their own limited company. however this company was struck off...

Yep, I'm aware of one of these also...his co dissolved (2 years ago), so obv. not submitted accounts, doesn't actually have an accountant, agency pays into his personal account, he just spends the money like it's all his. Clearly agency didn't do much due diligence (& still haven't), don't know how he has gotten away with it, multiple extensions too, no Corp Tax paid, probably/likely not paid VAT & probably/likely not VAT, or FRS, registered anyway...the person concerned is an absolute arrogant mess with a blasé attitude to contracting.

Am sure he'll get his comeuppance at some point, but makes you wonder, if he's not on HMRC radar, why not? And if he is on their radar, why is he still on-site, in contract?

Might be the case that he's got a stack of HMRC letters piled up in the hallway ready for shredding, but the guy just doesn't give a toss. Remarkable really & beggars belief, while many sit on here hand-wringing about much lesser things.

[SueEllen]

Am sure he'll get his comeuppance at some point, but makes you wonder, if he's not on HMRC radar, why not? And if he is on their radar, why is he still on-site, in contract?

Unless someone informs HMRC mentioning the agency name plus his when doing so, so they look through the agency's books then they can't find him.

As long as he is working he has no problems. If he later needs to claim benefits for any reason then he's in trouble as he has no NI payments and something as simple as that can trigger off an investigation.

[JRCT]

Yep, I'm aware of one of these also...his co dissolved (2 years ago), so obv. not submitted accounts, doesn't actually have an accountant, agency pays into his personal account, he just spends the money like it's all his. Clearly agency didn't do much due diligence (& still haven't), don't know how he has gotten away with it, multiple extensions too, no Corp Tax paid, probably/likely not paid VAT & probably/likely not VAT, or FRS, registered anyway...the person concerned is an absolute arrogant mess with a blasé attitude to contracting.

Am sure he'll get his comeuppance at some point, but makes you wonder, if he's not on HMRC radar, why not? And if he is on their radar, why is he still on-site, in contract?

Might be the case that he's got a stack of HMRC letters piled up in the hallway ready for shredding, but the guy just doesn't give a toss. Remarkable really & beggars belief, while many sit on here hand-wringing about much lesser things.

If I knew this for sure, I'd have no qualms about informing HMRC.

"Evil persists when good men do nothing" or something like that.

[SueEllen]

"Evil persists when good men do nothing" or something like that.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." This is one version of the quote.

HMRC thinks we are all tax dodgers so it would be worth proving we aren't.

BTW VAT fraud can be reported here. That should trigger of a more serious investigation.

[GlenW]

my ex partner (not in business), a couple of things appeared at my home address addressed to the limited company he set up when he began contracting again in the UK

Good luck Whitelighteningwarrior. I hope you get this sorted out.

Oh what a surprise.

[cojak]

Any ex partner (he or she) doing the diddle to someone who trusted them is wrong.

And I'll remind you that this is a professional forum.

[BolshieBastard]

Oh what a surprise.

What are you trying to imply?

[GlenW]

What are you trying to imply?

I couldn't possibly say (read the above rebuke).