i am almost ready for getting IVA quotes and am trying to get my husband (also in debt) to get round to this thinking too, he is self employed, does own tax/vat etc...would an IVA make things difficult for him. I don't want to get myself out of debt, and then end up on the straight, and then end up bailing out his debt, only to end up skint again. He has his own credit cards and I have mine, but we have a few joint loans, and our joint account is 3 grand over drawn. ....I think he is more worried about how he'll pay for things convenience wise?....I think he's actually in denial about how much debt we are IN on paper. Will an IVA effect his self employed business at all? in the future if he wanted to get a business loan out within the 5 yr period would he be able to at all? he is a courier he is worried his van won't make another 5 years.
IVAs were originally designed for the self employed and give people a chance to start over. Any arrears of VAT,PAYE and self assessment are included as is the personal liability for the current tax year. He may be able to retain a card for the lijke of diesel if it has no balance and is cleared each month in full, but realistically he should have no need for credit should the IVA be approved.
Speak to an IP firm for some free advice and good luck.
As Michael says IVA's were originally designed for the self employed but became alot more widely used.
If he owes the Tax man money then this debt would need to be included into the IVA and would be taken care of as well. HMRC are normally very supportive of IVA's the only time they have an issue is if you failed to submit any tax returns at all for several years.... they see two type of debtors, cant pay and wont pay... cant pay are the ones who regular submit the returns but simply cant afford to pay and wont pay are the ones who just ignore there obligations all togther and dont even submit the returns...... they would generally reject an IVA for a wont pay debtor.
His cusomters have no reason to knkow about his IVA so it should not affect his business.
The only think to bear in mind, if he is a sole trader then ALL debts need to come into the IVA so if he has any suppliers debts or business loans then these are to be included, if his busniess relys on him continuing to use these suppliers then this is a factor he needs to consider as they may not take to lightly in allowing him to use there service but then if he pays cash up front it might be a different story.
