My June article referred to various options for helping to deal with creditor pressure now that trading activity is resuming : always assuming that the business can source both product and staff. The view expressed was that over-stretching the business/personal cash flow programme is unlikely to prove fruitful if survival is to occur and hence, care needs to be taken to manage one’s cash resources in order to plot a return to overall solvency in the long term.

In May of this year, Kwasi Kwarteng MP wrote to the insolvency trade body R3 in his capacity as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy because R3 had asked him to provide comfort that HMRC would be supportive in their debt recovery measures for unpaid taxes.  His letter noted :

“You ask that HMRC take a commercial view in order to drive rescue and publicise its strategy to encourage companies and insolvency practitioners to bring forward rescue procedures such as Company Voluntary Arrangements and restructuring plans.  I am very much in agreement with you that all stakeholders should support company rescue.

I am aware that HMRC will take a cautious approach to enforcement of debt during this critical period however, HMRC will be largely driven by a lack of engagement by companies rather than just their inability to pay, and that using formal insolvency to enforce payment will remain a last resort.  A flexible approach will be taken with those companies who engage with HMRC”.

This stance was supported by a government publication at the end of June entitled “Collecting tax debts as we emerge from Covid-19”. Thus, as with the approach to personal insolvency set out by the Scottish Government, the UK Government ( corporate insolvency is a matter reserved for Westminster ) is clear that if a company can pay its taxes, they should do so. Clearly, if a business is struggling, HMRC will seek to work with it in order to agree a plan based on commercial reality.

It is appreciated that, as an involuntary creditor, HMRC cannot simply stop supplying goods or services and hence, must rely upon an honest and transparent negotiation process for debt recovery.  The Meston Reid & Co experience over the years has seen some taxpayers acting as if the inability to stop supplying goods and services is a weakness that should be exploited e.g. by ignoring requests for payment/discussion. Not a good idea, and tends to mean that one has limited sympathy when the same company complains that HMRC are seeking to liquidate the company because of a lack of a realistic repayment proposal.

As many readers will be aware, HMRC organise visits and instigate regular communication in order to make sure that a taxpayer is aware of the liability. Indeed, various support measures are in place in order to ensure fairness of outcome for the taxpayer. It is rarely in anyone’s best interest for a business to be liquidated by HMRC and thereby diminish the prospect of both a recovery of the current tax debt and the potential for receiving further tax if a business continues to trade.

No creditor can wait forever and, as many of the business effects of Covid-19 begin to subside,  HMRC have announced that from September 2021, if a taxpayer is either unwilling to discuss a payment plan or ignores all attempts to communicate, enforcement powers exercised through court are likely to resume.

The Meston Reid & Co insolvency team deal with HMRC in virtually every liquidation : insolvent and solvent and recognise that if bad news has to be conveyed to all creditors, including HMRC, it is best done sooner rather than later such that a sensible way forward can be pursued.

It always makes sense to talk and establish a practical way forward. Occasionally, the process results in the directors of an insolvent company instigating formal insolvency proceedings under their own hand, but that is by no means an automatic outcome.

In conclusion, there is no substitute for seeking advice from an experienced source, ideally before creditors begin to circle and start placing pressure on a company, such that a mature view can be taken about a business plan, turnaround options and a payment programme for all stakeholder groups.

The views in this article are those of Michael J M Reid, licensed insolvency practitioner and partner of Meston Reid & Co, chartered accountants, Aberdeen.  They do not purport to represent those of the firm in general.