I am one of the 2000 hit by retrospective legislation from 2008. About 500 have formed a splinter group known as TAA(The Agency Argument).
However many of those 2000 are being hit by APNs. There are a few hundred who cannot pay. I am one of them.
So far HMRC seem to be restricting themselves to bully boy tactics. My psychiatrist has written to them asking for them to put my case on hold twice now. Though they refuse to reply.
What is your take on the enforce-ability of APNs where someone will need to sell assets or be made bankrupt?
You might find this thread interesting
http://forums.contractoruk.com/business-contracts/98702-bankruptcy.html
Sorry to hear of your troubles BrilloPad. In my opinion, it is a travesty that HMRC are allowed to backtrack in this way on what in many cases appeared to be approved schemes. HMRC have stated that they intend to have issued 64,000 notices before the end of 2016. They are not as forthcoming on how long these matters will actually take to get resolved in court, leaving many in receipt of an APN with an anxious wait.
My understanding of the general position, as you are likely to be aware, is that an APN is issued for payment of tax avoided under the schemes and must be paid until a tribunal / court decides whether the scheme was lawful or not.
I assume from your response that whoever set up your scheme did not include 'insurance' to settle part or all of any claims brought by nor will they be writing on your behalf to 'appeal' (or more correctly
make representations) against the APNs issued? I have seen a number of schemes where the scheme provider did offer these actions as part of their service.
My take, in accordance with the
latest developments, is that APN's are enforceable even if you are able to prove financial hardship as a result of having to make payment. Although there is no statutory requirement for HMRC to accept representations relating to hardship,
the line appears to be that they will take them into account.
My experience is that HMRC will not accept an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) where you are trying to pay back less than the full amount relating to an APN. An IVA (or informal time to pay arrangement) will need to be for payment of the entire amount, and to be backed up by your ability to make payments from your available resources, i.e. by way of an income contribution, remortgaging your home, releasing pension funds, etc.
The APN (along with the
vast majority of your unsecured liabilties) will be written off if you go bankrupt. If your employment prospects are not damaged by bankruptcy, you do not have any
assets that require protecting, your
disposable income is less than then £20 per month, you can live with the
bankruptcy restrictions imposed usually for a minimum of 12 months, amongst other things, then bankruptcy could be a great way to draw line under your troubles and move forward without the APN liability hanging over your head for an unknown period. See the goverment's recently revised guide to bankruptcy
here.
Everyone's circumstances are different so I would advise that you have a thorough review of your particular situation with an expert before deciding upon which action to take.
Thanks for your pointer towards your other thread. I have
replied there on my understanding of the current law regarding pensions being payable into the bankruptcy estate, which although positive, is unfortunately still pending appeal.
