I am considering an IVA due to considerable debt (mostly HMRC tax debt of >£28k) and am worried it's all going to be pointless or I'm going with the wrong company. A few companies have either said "No" because of the HMRC debt or said it is difficult and may not be possible. Can anyone advise if there is a company who is particularly known for helping with HMRC debt?
Thank you, I know I'm in a right mess and wish I hadn't got here but am trying desperately to find a viable solution. Thank you again
HMRC are not always the easiest to deal with and sometimes insert their own terms. I would suggest a small / medium firm ... the larger ones do not treat you as an individual and tend to avoid obvious difficulties. I know McCambridge Duffy deal with a lot of self employed and, by extension, with HMRC. Might be worth a chat with them.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Thank you for your reply it's really helpful - I'm trying not to panic too much but not doing very well there.
I did chat with the company you've mentioned online and they've said they'll phone me tomorrow so that's something.
I had discussed things with PayPlan but am not convinced, reading posts here, they're necessarily the right choice for me.
It's so hard to know what to do and even then it may not even be accepted...Thanks again!
HMRC are not against IVAs in principle, but they won't put up with them where they're not happy.
So, your returns must be up to date and you mustn't have done something that they don't like, eg, lied to them, told them you'd do or pay something and then not done so etc.
As Foggy rightly says, a smaller IP firm will be better here. Trust your instincts when talking to them and if you're not happy, talk to a few.
Thank you - I just feel so clueless - they've never let me setup a payment plan and have always refused my offers saying they won't be good enough so I've hit a bit of a brick wall. I have always made payments but to no avail really...
I will try - I really struggle with telephone calls so PayPlan seemed great but I'm feeling more wary the more I read. Thank you again.
I had an IVA where HMRC where the main creditors. As Foggy said, they like to dictate the terms and for me, they did two things which kind of ruined the whole point of having an IVA:
1. Removed any option of payment holidays for any reason.
2. Added a clause to say we would value our property at the end of year 3 and then if we couldn't give them an amount equal to 90% of the property minus the mortgage, we'd have to sell it.
At the end of year 1, we sold up voluntarily, offered a settlement which was accepted easily really, which is pretty dumb since they could have had all of the money back if they'd accepted my offers. Instead, HMRC came away with 28p in the £.
We have since moved to Spain and have never looked back. At the time, I thought losing the house would be the worst thing ever, but it was actually the best thing ever. If we hadn't done that, we'd be right at the end of Year 3 this month facing being forced to sell.
If I could do it all again, I'd have sold up and not bothered with an IVA. The company who did it for us made a whopping 40k out of it - money which could and should have gone to HMRC really.
- I just feel so clueless - they've never let me setup a payment plan and have always refused my offers saying they won't be good enough so I've hit a bit of a brick wall. I have always made payments but to no avail really...