Hi all,

My husband & i owned a plastics engineering business in England which we planed to close down before we moved here. We got rid of the stock, machinery, computers and so on, so all that was left to do was close the company. Our accountant said that these things take time & that we should go assuring us that it can all be sorted out. Now we have been here 1 year & 1 month and its still not closed down. We phone him often & he just says he is sorting it, the money we left in the business account is still there minus bank charges so we know that the final payments for VAT and so on have not been paid. We are getting very worried now should it take this long? Its hard knowing what to do from the otherside of the world. We keep thinking that we will get a huge bill from the inland revenue (we probley will). I Just dont know what to do. Has anyone found there selvs in this situation before or is there anyone with any knowledge on our situation out there.

All help appriciated.

Thank you, Sarah.

I would suggest that you get some of your contacts with your accountant in writing just to prove that you have been regulalry asking him to get the work done. This is just from previous experience of solicitors who dragged things out and it can turn into your word against theirs later down the line.
I have no idea how long these things should take but must say that it does seem a long time. Perhaps you should write asking for a definate timetable for the company to be closed and final bills to be paid. If you have any serious worries then is there anyone that you can contact at the Inland revenue? as they may well be able to confirm that the closure is in progress at their end and they are waiting on admin (it could easily be their delay). If it is not their delay then you need to find out if there have been bills that you are now being charged interest on.
Good luck
Nicky

Hi Sarah

we too had a business to close and we left the UK before doing so....the company does take a while to close down(cant remember exactly) as you have to allow enough time for people to chase you for un paid bills bla bla bla...we knew we had none of that but you still need to bide your time. I am sure we just finalised stuff in Feb this year and the business was closed in August 2004. If you were a Ltd you can go onto Companies House(that was the one on Scotland) website and check the status of your business there

Hope this helps

Hi Nicky,

Thanks for your reply.

The trouble we are also having is the fact that he is not responding to email/letters so the only form of contact we have is the phone where he just says "hes sorting it" not that we belive that. I think its time to start speaking to people in higher places.

Thank you.

Sarah.

Make sure you move the money before the company actually closes down. Otherwise it belongs to the Crown.

When we closed our company down, it was done in a certain way so that we could legally avoid capital gains. It does take a long time so perhaps that's whats happening?

Jane

Thank you every one.

We are ok on the money front there wont be loads left & what is in the account is ours. Its a limited company & the company owes us the money from when we was bought out.

Thanks, Sarah

Can u complain about him to the accountants professional body? Let himj know that you intend to do that and the reasons for doing that (ie failing to respond to your written requests etc).

I reckon that it might be time for a new accountant, and also maybe a visit back to the UK.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to you all, i feel a little better now.

Thank you, Sarah

Sarah,

From what you have said the alarm bells should be ringing:

1. Has the business been de-registered for VAT purposes?

2. Has the PAYE Scheme been closed?

3. Has the Corporation Tax Return for the final period of trading been lodged with the UK Revenue?

4. Has any balance of corporation tax been settled?

5. Where are the final accounts of the business for the period up to the cessation of trading and the disposal of the business assets?

6. What is the mechanism by which the accountant proposes to wind up the business? A cost effective strategy is what is known as a winding up under the provisions of section 652a of the Companies Act 1985, linked to UK Revenue Extra Statutory Concession C16, under which funds remaining in the company are paid to shareholders as a return of capital, rather than being an income dividend.

Don't ignore these things because you are no longer in the UK - these things can come back to cause problems at a later date.

Best regards.