Closing down ltd company

[Gonzo]

Can you close a company (or make it dormant) when it's still owed money, and still be able to collect that money? Or is the fact that there's still money owed means it has to be counted as trading?

I am sure that I have read someone state on here that they have been able to persuade the creditors to issue the payment to them personally.

I am not convinced and MyCo is owed a little bit of money by HMRC so for that reason I have been told by the accountant that I need to keep the Company Bank Account (and therefore myCo) open, so I have still filled in an annual return for this year.

The accountant did also advise that

A. if the bank account is left empty for long enough the bank will close the account anyway and

B. if the Companies House returns are not done then Companies House will close the company without me doing anything

What I don't want is for B to happen before A so I am keeping everything open but myCo is not trading and as far as I am aware HMRC know this, the VAT registration has been cancelled, and I have permission to close the company using ESC16.


I don't like the idea of the loose ends left by B above so I will ask about closing the company officially when the time comes.