Issue closing down company - HMRC don't get it

[Wanderer]

I closed a company 2 years ago - all dissolved by companies house.

For a while HMRC kept hassling over PAYE until my accountant threatened them with a bill for his time.

Now I have received a late filing return and a bill for £400.

My accountant says this is very common - HMRC seem to be unable to do even the most basic of checks.

My accountant is going to submit a bill for his time.

Eh? Your accountant wants to bill you? Tell them you paid them to dissolve the company and have it struck off and they should finish the job off properly. It's not your problem if HMRC are being thick about it. Quite aside from that, your company is now dissolved so they can't bill your company, can they.

[Greg@CapitalCity]

I don't know if that's the right approach - send them a bill, and then that's another thing you will have to chase them along for (they probably will not even acknowledge it). So your PAYE account is still active on the HMRC system. I would suggest you do two things;
(1) Check all your dates are sorted out - last day of trading, last PAYE return filed, date you notified the HMRC to close the PAYE account;
(2) Then call and write to them. Keep a template of your letter, and keep firing them off as each penalty is received. In the letter give them the dates the company stopped trading, the date the last PAYE return was filed, the date the company was dissolved on CH, and that you would like to appeal the penalty on the basis their records are inaccurate.

If your old accountant wants to bill the HMRC for his time (??) then I would suggest his/her motivation levels are at rock bottom. Its a simple thing to get a PAYE account closed down and wrongful penalties reversed - yes, it may take 2-3 goes until the message sinks in with the HMRC but if this has been going on for a while you might want to get the job done yourself.

[Nixon Williams]

I closed a company 2 years ago - all dissolved by companies house.

For a while HMRC kept hassling over PAYE until my accountant threatened them with a bill for his time.

Now I have received a late filing return and a bill for £400.

My accountant says this is very common - HMRC seem to be unable to do even the most basic of checks.

My accountant is going to submit a bill for his time. Can I submit a bill too?

Sadly, this is quite common with HMRC we also receive these fines for old companies.

Your accountant should deal with this as part of the service, whilst we charge a fee for dealing with the closure of a company, this fee covers for any work in the future, such a penalty notices or HMRC queries.

Alan

[northernladuk]

I closed a company 2 years ago - all dissolved by companies house.

For a while HMRC kept hassling over PAYE until my accountant threatened them with a bill for his time.

Now I have received a late filing return and a bill for £400.

My accountant says this is very common - HMRC seem to be unable to do even the most basic of checks.

My accountant is going to submit a bill for his time. Can I submit a bill too?

For what? You pay your accountant to spend his time dealing with this. Even if you do is it a good idea to alert HMRC further to your plight by putting a bill in for an arguable amount of time spent?
I would leave your accountant and HMRC to

[BrilloPad]

I closed a company 2 years ago - all dissolved by companies house.

For a while HMRC kept hassling over PAYE until my accountant threatened them with a bill for his time.

Now I have received a late filing return and a bill for £400.

My accountant says this is very common - HMRC seem to be unable to do even the most basic of checks.

My accountant is going to submit a bill for his time. Can I submit a bill too?