Far too often we get calls from directors who are desperate for help, but who have tried to muddle through and left things to the very last minute. When HMRC are involved and they have decided to issue, or even threaten, a winding up petition you must act immediately. You have a limited time window to respond and act. Few directors fail to realise that once the HMRC have started to pursue a winding up petition they will not stop until your company is successfully put into liquidation, one way or another. The only way HMRC can be stopped is via the Court once the petition has been advertised and this can be very expensive as you will be expected to pay the HMRC legal costs.
It’s also worth remembering that once advertised your bank account will be frozen and all the company assets are frozen too, so they cannot be sold which can often have disastrous affects if you want to start afresh with a new company. Any creditor can use the same petition to close your company even if you have paid to stop the original petition. We have just had a client come to us seeking help after borrowing a very substantial amount of money from family hoping to stop the petition. Having paid the High Court petition another creditor stepped in and took over the petition but the directors were unable to raise more funds leaving them in an impossible situation.
