Reply to: Companies House Stitch Up

[Bradley]

Time

Just had a chat with Comp House. It appears my company status is "Proposal to Strike Off" and it wont actually get Disolved until my accountant has filed all the accounts etc. So next qn.
How long would you expect an accountant to take to complete all that standard filings? He's been at this for about 5 months now!! (Obv I've stopped paying him)

If they've got all the info then it should take about a week to do. The problem at the moment is they've probably got all the personal tax returns to complete so you won't get any sense out of them until February.

By the way, just take out all the money NOW. There's no sense in leaving it in the company account. You can always pay the CT personally in the future.

One last point. If you've got £50k in the company then if you're the only shareholder you may have some tax to pay on the distribution of the monies from the company. The tax increases for every day the company is not trading until it is eventually struck off. This is because you're relying on a tax relief known as taper relief and this only applies for the length of time you were trading not for the months until you are finally lstruck-off the companies house register. So chase them up - it's costing you money.

PS if the delay is a year or more before strike-off, you could lose the taper relief entirely.

[Underscore2]

Ahhhh

Just had a chat with Comp House. It appears my company status is "Proposal to Strike Off" and it wont actually get Disolved until my accountant has filed all the accounts etc. So next qn.
How long would you expect an accountant to take to complete all that standard filings? He's been at this for about 5 months now!! (Obv I've stopped paying him)

[TGAOTU]

About 50k - I've not paid any corp tax at all yet. Just the PAYE and NICs (and VAT obv) My rather well known acountany it taking a rather long time to tell me how much i need to pay Broon though..... So i'd rather leave it until that's all complete.

If your company is struck off then your company bank account is iirc, illegal. Darren, would you care to comment?

[Underscore2]

?

How much cash are we talking about here? Just close the account and have done with it.

If HMCR have any issues they will let you know (although as the company is now closed this would only be if some allegation of serious fraud reared its head).

About 50k - I've not paid any corp tax at all yet. Just the PAYE and NICs (and VAT obv) My rather well known acountany it taking a rather long time to tell me how much i need to pay Broon though..... So i'd rather leave it until that's all complete.

[xoggoth]

I have considered this very carefully for 200 nanoseconds. My diagnosis. They are BASTARDS! Who? Who cares? Companies House are bastards, IR are bastards, ALL government are bastards.

[Scaroth of the Jagaroth]

How much cash are we talking about here? Just close the account and have done with it.

If HMCR have any issues they will let you know (although as the company is now closed this would only be if some allegation of serious fraud reared its head).

[Robot]

I'm still waiting for my rather well known accoutant to tell me who much i should send to Hector.

Why? The company no longer legally exists and the bank account *should* be frozen by now, the bank is not doing it's job properly.

One would suggest you go down to the bank and clear the company funds ASAP. Although, that would leave your accountant in tricky position, is it reportable as money laundering offence!

[Scaroth of the Jagaroth]

As HMCR didn't object to the company being struck off, that means that as far as they are concerned no tax is owed.

[Underscore2]

well

I haven't paid any final tax bills yet - company is struck off - and bank accoutn remains open. I'm still waiting for my rather well known accoutant to tell me who much i should send to Hector.

[Scaroth of the Jagaroth]

You pay the final bills before the company's closed, not afterwards. As far as HMCR goes, they don't care less what bank account the money comes from as long as they get it.

[Robot]

I clsoed down a company 6 months ago and my bank account hasn't been frozen......how do you pay final tax bills etc?

What final bills? I'm sure if you owed the Inland Revenue money they would object to the company being struck-off !

Surely your accountant should have given you a balance sheet that showed the company's final liabilities and you should have paid them before submitting the 652A.

[expat]

I clsoed down a company 6 months ago and my bank account hasn't been frozen......how do you pay final tax bills etc?

Surely you can always pay from your personal account?

[Underscore2]

eh?

I clsoed down a company 6 months ago and my bank account hasn't been frozen......how do you pay final tax bills etc?

[privateeye]

Incidentally, the money sitting in the company bank account, if you get this back will you treat it as a dividend on your tax return?

It would have been part of the capital distribution as already agreed with the IR - I have instructions where it will apear on the tax return but that letter is not to hand at the moment. I will go via the standard complaints procedure first and send in copies of all documentation - including copy of letter instructing bank to freeze the account which is dated one week in advance of the letter I received.

[Robot]

Is it worth it ?

Its not the acountants fault, I took their instructions to withdraw funds much sooner but leave some money in case of unforeseen bills etc. The accountants were notified the same time as me that basically the dissolvement had already happened before we were notified.

The issue is being escalated especially after the Treasury Solicitor basically said I would have to fight for the money so I will. I like a fight.

The cost of reinstating a company at companies House can cost £800 upwards in legal fees, there are many companies out there that specialise in this area. I would go with one of them rather than a normal solicitors firm.

Incidentally, the money sitting in the company bank account, if you get this back will you treat it as a dividend on your tax return?