HMRC Winding up petitions and statutory demands

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Our specialist team is here to help

No other firm in England has the strength in depth and range of skills our tax team.

• Andy Lynch. Andy is an expert on a wide range of HMRC claims and before joining FWJ, he spent 18 years at HM Customs & Excise in their National Investigation Service. His experience is unrivalled in all types of HMRC claims including HMRC investigation defence, VAT claims, R&D tax credit defence, Account Freezing Orders, Tax Disclosure, Code of Practice 8 & 9 claims, winding up petition defence and much more.
• Stephen Downie. Stephen is a Partner and a former ACCA accountant who combines financial expertise with deep legal knowledge to deliver clear, commercial advice. He acts for directors, shareholders, insolvency practitioners and private clients in corporate governance disputes, director disqualification defence, and HMRC-related claims including tax avoidance schemes, PLNs, VAT and PAYE security demands. His focus is always on achieving the best outcome for clients as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
• Joshua Goulding. Joshua is a Senior Associate who specialises in complex tax disputes across multiple jurisdictions. Before joining FWJ, he worked for a Big Four accountancy firm and holds an advanced certification in international tax and BEPS from the IBFD. His expertise covers direct and indirect tax disputes, HMRC enquiries, tax treaty matters, restitution claims, and litigation before the Tax Tribunal and higher courts.
• Anita Sharma. Anita is a Senior Associate specialising in tax litigation and financial disputes with HMRC. She advises high-net-worth individuals and major commercial clients on appeals against HMRC decisions, complex tax assessments, and enforcement proceedings. Anita has secured interim relief following HMRC revocations to keep clients trading during appeals and is known for achieving practical, results-focused outcomes in high-value disputes.
• Connor Coombs. Connor is a Paralegal in the tax team assisting on a broad range of HMRC investigation and defence matters. He supports clients with Code of Practice 8 and 9 investigations, time-to-pay arrangements, HMRC statutory demands and R&D tax credit disputes. Connor also helps prepare detailed evidence and submissions for use in appeals and settlement negotiations, ensuring cases are presented clearly and effectively.

Fantastic firm, nothing was to much trouble. Direct to the point, so helpful would recommend to anyone, I would definitely use them again.

A client that we defended from an HMRC petition

Acting quickly is always the key

Should you have a tax debt it is important to engage with HMRC at an early stage as ignoring the issue and will quite often will land you in the Insolvency courts, our team here at FWJ are highly experienced in assisting companies and individual tax payers navigate their way out of such problems – whether they are statutory demand or winding up petitions.

Statutory demands – how can we help

If you have been served with a statutory demand, we can help in the following ways

• Establish the validity of the debt claimed – quite often, HMRC can be wrong in its calculations;
• Enter into negotiations for repayment of the agreed debt and try and obtain a Time to Pay Agreement if possible;
• If the debt is disputed, try and get HMRC to withdraw the statutory demand – and if they refuse, make an application to set aside the statutory demand (for an individual) or apply to court for an injunction (for a company) to stop a winding up order being issued
• If you are unable to pay the debt (either at all or straight away), explore other options which might be available for you – eg an IVA for an individual or a CVA for a company.

The key is early engagement with HMRC to avoid the statutory demand moving on to the next stage – which will either be a bankruptcy petition or a winding up petition.  Our team are experts at finding solutions for every set of circumstances.

TO READ MORE ABOUT STATUTORY DEMANDS – READ OUR FREE STATUTORY DEMAND [2024 GUIDE]

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Winding up petitions – how we can help

If your company has been served with a winding up petition, we can help in the following ways

• establish whether the debt is genuinely due and properly calculated. HMRC can be wrong in its calculations;
• enter into negotiations for repayment of any admitted debt – and try and obtain a Time to Pay Agreement if possible;
• if the debt is disputed, we can ask for the winding up petition to be withdrawn, and if this is not successful, formally oppose the petition and have the case heard at a full court hearing.
• we can also obtain a court injunction to prevent HMRC from advertising the winding up petition in the London Gazette if they are threatening to do so. This can be hugely important for a company – as advertisement of a petition can often lead to banks freezing the company account and suppliers refusing to trade.
• we can help get a company bank account unfrozen.  Often a bank will freeze the account entirely if it becomes aware of a winding up petition. There are steps we can take to get this unfrozen.
• we can apply to court for a validation order – which is a type of court order which permits payments to be made from the company account despite the existence of the winding up petition. For example, business critical payments such as wages or to suppliers.  By applying to court for validation of these payments, it removes a lot of personal risk to the directors should the company later be wound up.
• we can put you in touch with reputable restructuring professionals – who might be able to restructure your business and help it turnaround.
• we can advise you on whether there are any alternatives to the winding up procedure which might prove to be a better outcome – eg an Administration pre pack is often an alternative which can help save the key parts of the business moving forwards Or a CVA.
• we can advise on how to minimise the risk of personal claims against the directors once the petition has been issued – for example, if the company does later go in to liquidation, there is a risk of director disqualification, compensation orders and personal money claims by liquidators.

TO READ MORE ABOUT WINDING UP PETITIONS – READ OUR FREE WINDING UP PETITON [2024 GUIDE].

TO READ MORE ABOUT FROZEN BANK ACCOUNTS – READ OUR FREE GUIDE TO FROZEN BANK ACCOUNTS

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Phone us today – free consultation.

If you are affected by of the circumstances outlined above, one of our team will gladly talk you through your options and help you find a solution. Speak to one of our experts – Andy Lynch or Stephen Downie and they will happily help you today.

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Andy Lynch at FWJ was literally a life saver for me. I ran in to some tax issues with HMRC and I suffer from mental health issues as well so I was a complex case. Andy took his time to professionally and accurately layout my case and assist me with finding a resolution. I researched a lot of tax advisers before making my decision and I am glad I did and relieved that I chose Andy and FWJ.

Chris Kitchen

FWJ did precisely what it set out to do. I am extremely grateful for its assistance.

A client who had received a Request for Security from HMRC for a sum that would have caused their company severe financial difficulties. We helped them to have the entire bill withdrawn