# We didn't realise that once company ceased trading that we'd personally be hounded.



## whiteoaks100 (11 Oct 2011)

hi ..can anyone give us some advice please...


After struggling to keep our heads  above water and waiting, our company finally ceased trading in Dec '10. My husband and i were the directors. 

We haven't the money to liquidate. Our accountant said it'd cost thousands to close the business. 

My husband is a carpenter by trade but with no work and no money coming in we had to close doors. 

We are owed 11,000 grand from another contractor for roofing my husband carried out for him nearly three years ago now but he has no intention of paying as he himself has ceased trading as well.

We owe a bank loan of 35,000 which was personally guaranteed. We took this loan out to keep the business afloat but now the bank has closed the account on us as there are no funds to pay it. In fairness they haven't demanded any payments yet and we haven't heard from them since february but i imagine it'll only be a MATTER OF TIME before they too come knocking. 

The company owed 6,990 in income tax and another bill for rct and paye arrived in the door for 4,100 the other day. 

The sherrif was on to us for payment of the income tax and we told him that we had nothing and i mean absolutely nothing that we can pay. 

My husband found work two days a week earning 256 gross. we are on a rent to buy scheme so 100 in rent is paid out of that 256 each week straight away . 

In addition we get 162 from social on jobseekers allowance. We have four children and receive 625 in childrens allowance,  to cut a long story short the sherrif sent out bailifs last friday and they threatened to take our personal belongings if we didn't come up with €1,700 by monday (yesterday). We ended up getting an extension on cr union loan to come up with the money.  

We are at our witts ends. I'm so afraid other creditors will send out bailliffs now..in total we owe 70,000 (including the 35,000 to bank) and absolutely no way of paying it. there are no assets for business as my husband always hired out any equipment he needed. We don't have a premises. 
All we have is a laptop which is two years old and a cement mixer worth 150 euros.

We contacted mabs in the hope they can intervene with our creditiors for us.i have nightmares that we're going to end up in prison for non payment. 

We are barely living week to week. We don't drink or smoke. I go around with a calculator when doing the weekly shop to try and keep it to 160 euros..remember thats between six of us...and the weekly utilities and diesel take the rest.

We didn't realise that once business  ceased trading that we'd personally be hounded by our creditors for monies owed..we've told them our personal situation but they still demand payment and have threatened bailiffs aswell so we try to pay each of them a tenner a month and more when we can.


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## sean.c (11 Oct 2011)

I'm sorry for your troubles and hope MABS will be able to help you.  But I don't think MABS will get involved with the commercial aspect to your problems.

Your biggest problem is the unpaid taxes.  Everything else is secondary to that.

MABS will probably ask you to complete a list of all your expenditures and incomes.  Once you have that you can;

a) contact the Revenue and work out a payment plan to pay the taxes.  If no dishonesty was involved, they might even write off some of the taxes as too little to bother with.  We can always hope.

b) contact the bank - don't wait for them to contact you.  Give them the same info about your current situation.  Work out a payment plan.

Who is it that sent the Sheriff?

Don't ignore either the bank or the Revenue - especialy not the Revenue.  No one will send out the Sheriff to seize assets if you are honestly and openly working with your creditors.  No-one is going to end up in prison.


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## Purple (11 Oct 2011)

sean.c said:


> Don't ignore either the bank or the Revenue - especialy not the Revenue.  No one will send out the Sheriff to seize assets if you are honestly and openly working with your creditors.  No-one is going to end up in prison.



Good advice generally but the last bit is what really matters.


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## contemporary (12 Oct 2011)

If the debt is a company debt then the sheriff cannot cant take anything that doesnt belong to the company, as in  if company X owes the revenue 10k the sheriff cannot come out and take a car that doesnt belong to the company. 

The revenue sheriffs work on a fee from the revenue and dont work for them directly, that way they will say what they can/like to get money out of you so that they can get their fee.

Who are your other creditors? You need to understand the difference between personal liabilities and company liabilities. 

I'd engage with the bank as that is a personal liability on you, and come to some sort of long term payment arrangement.

You also need to talk to the revenue about payments but please dont let the sheriffs bully you into paying more to them.


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## whiteoaks100 (17 Oct 2011)

hi Contempory...yes the revenue sherrif can take personal possessions to pay off business taxes...he can take your car and any "luxury items"..say tv,laptop etc.
yes having gotten advice from our solicitor we realize that all business debts are a company liability so have sent them letters informing them of the situation. 
we know as regards the revenue and bank though that there is a personal liability with those debts so there is no question of not repaying them.
we spoke with revenue about arranging a repayment scheme and was told to send in in writing our request ..attaching the sherrifs warrant and details of our income...but havent heard anything yet so will be writing again.
@ purple....we did inform the revenue of all our earnings and assets but they still referred it to a sherrif, we spoke to him when he sent out a demand for 6990 and sent him proof of our income and how we'd ceased trading but he still sent bailiffs out. so now i think the only way of keeping them from taking our possessions is to try and arrange payment with the child allowance every month. i checked out the rules and regulations regarding the revenue sherrif and they allow you six months to pay up remainder once you give initial payment or in extreme circumstances spread it over 2 years so i'm hoping he will agree to this..only i'm hoping he'll wait til january to begin payments ...otherwise christmas is a problem .


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## whiteoaks100 (17 Oct 2011)

well guys thanks for all the replies..appreciate  the advice. our solicitor is going to mull over for a few days on the best way to approach the bank. 
the revenue is a different story however...having contacted them to try and sort out a repayment scheme and to ask that they remove the revenue sherrif from hounding us...it was basically pointless as they said the revenue sherrif still has to be paid so we have to deal with him on this..so im hoping he'll call off the bailiffs and be obliging enough to arrange  payments we can afford as we cannot afford another big payout  like what we had to pay that monday


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## ajapale (17 Oct 2011)

Whiteoaks,

Ive expanded your title a little to more fully reflect your questions. Let me know if this is ok.

aj
mod


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## Bronte (17 Oct 2011)

whiteoaks100 said:


> to cut a long story short the sherrif sent out bailifs last friday and they threatened to take our personal belongings if we didn't come up with €1,700 by monday (yesterday). We ended up getting an extension on cr union loan to come up with the money.
> 
> .


 
Hope things are a little better today and welcome to AAM.  

I think you made a mistake on paying them the money as now they will put more pressure on you to pay more.  If they smell money they will go after it.  By paying something you demonstrated the opposite of what you hoped to achieve.  If you don't have the money then you should not borrow (getting yourself into more financial trouble) and you should not pay it back.  They cannot get blood from a stone.  The sherrif can take exactly what from you?  He's not going to take a laptop (and if he is that petty hide it when he comes).  In any case it doesn't make sense, you cannot sell a second hand laptop or TV for any value.  

What else have you of value?  Do you have a valuable car (that means one he can sell on) and I would be very shocked if he took an old family car from a family with 4 children.  

You are not going to jail, what makes you think that.  Your company has ceased trading and is in debt.  That's not a jailable offence.  You have to step back from the picture.  For sure go to Mabs, tell them it's an urgent case.  You need some independant advice.  

Anything you send to revenue you should do by registered post.  No doubt they are slow in reacting.  So let them reply to you.  If your income is as low as you've posted than they will have to write off your debt.  Be open and honest about everything with revenue and the bank and they will come to an agreement, they are only testing you to see if there is any money, as is their right and obligation.


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## Time (17 Oct 2011)

Revenue sheriffs cannot take personal property to satisfy the debts of a limited company.


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## Bronte (18 Oct 2011)

Time said:


> Revenue sheriffs cannot take personal property to satisfy the debts of a limited company.


 
OP stated that some of the loans were personally guaranteed so I guess in those circumstances the Sherriff can take personal property.


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## whiteoaks100 (18 Oct 2011)

hi again ...the revenue sherrif is a sherif hired by revenue to obtain money for taxes and vat owed ..this is what this sherrif is after..he is different to other sherrifs.he isnt interested in bank loans or other creditors..this guy works for revenue and is only interested in getting the money owed to revenue.they have the power to cease any property that is owned by the debtor which includes car,household property eg tv,laptops  basically anything thats deemed a luxury item..he can enter your home and take anything he thinks of saleable value.
believe me i know what they have the power to do..i've looked up their rules and regulations.the REVENUE sherrif has the court power behind him. plus once a case is referred to him the revenue will not deal with it once referred to him.we rang revenue yesterday to try and set up an installment plan but they wouldn't even entertain a phone call saying we have to deal with sherrif..so rang him and he refused to deal with us stating that once he sent out the foot soldiers ie the bailiffs then we have to deal with them..so we're at that stage now...they will only set up an installment plan for two years max so i worked out that would be roughly 252 over 21 months to pay off the balance..i'lllet yeknow how it goes...
its all so barbarrik ..my advice don't let your taxes go into arrears.
we fell into this trap as we couldnt get paid for roofing work done for another contractor and had to basically not pay our tax just so we'd have enough to eat.we kept business open long enough to finish a house we were building and once it was done we ceased trading straight away.
the sherrif has all our personal details on file and he knows exactly how much we get a week but they dont care about sob stories only in results..their answer was that even those on the smallest dole allowance have to make payments to us.


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## whiteoaks100 (18 Oct 2011)

Time said:


> Revenue sheriffs cannot take personal property to satisfy the debts of a limited company.


unfortunately they can...they are different to "ordinary bailiff/sherrifs" as they have the courts power behind them .unlike normal bailiffs ..the revenue sherrif can take anything personal belonged to the debtor to recoup monies owed.if you look up the rules and regulations on revenue sherrif you'll see that they can basically take what they like. unlike normal sherrifs whom you can order off your property and have them arrested for tresspassing and state your contract is with the creditor and not them ...the revenuesherrif has the power to enter and take possession of all land,chattels,vehicles ,jewellery,etc


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## contemporary (18 Oct 2011)

Is the tax the sheriff chasing your own personal tax that you havent paid or outstanding P30's and VAT from the company.

If its personal then yes they can take personal items, but if its company tax e.g. VAT he cannot not

as an example see http://www.independent.ie/national-...xury-car-to-nama-developers-wife-2288981.html


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## whiteoaks100 (18 Oct 2011)

Bronte said:


> Hope things are a little better today and welcome to AAM.
> 
> I think you made a mistake on paying them the money as now they will put more pressure on you to pay more.  If they smell money they will go after it.  By paying something you demonstrated the opposite of what you hoped to achieve.  If you don't have the money then you should not borrow (getting yourself into more financial trouble) and you should not pay it back.  They cannot get blood from a stone.  The sherrif can take exactly what from you?  He's not going to take a laptop (and if he is that petty hide it when he comes).  In any case it doesn't make sense, you cannot sell a second hand laptop or TV for any value.
> 
> ...



if we hadnt agreed to pay then they would have ceased our there and then.
yes i know that it isnt a jail sentence...i was so worked up and scared the day i wrote it that it felt like it.we have given proof of all our income and bank statements but as i said before they dont want a sob story only results...
i never thought that it could be so barbarrik in these times though.this is our first time ever dealing with a revenue sherrif and i'm still in shock at their way of dealing with the matter ...but no doubt there are lots of people in this situation. thankyou for the reply though .


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## whiteoaks100 (18 Oct 2011)

contemporary :
It's tax the company has to pay for us as employees. So it's a company bill.
And only half of it is tax the rest is vrt which is a company thing aswell. I have no personal liabilities with revenue.


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## Bronte (18 Oct 2011)

Step back a second whiteoaks. Your posts are hard to read. 

What exactly do you have of value that the sherriff is going to take, what has he hinted that he will take, not what is on the website, that's just to scare people. 

What do you have of value, what item do you have that he could take and sell?

Can you outline slowly what happened exactly when the sherriff called to you the other day.


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## whiteoaks100 (18 Oct 2011)

when we had been in contact wth the sherrif a few weeks back ..he wanted a breakdown of all our assets,income etc which we supplied. he asked if we could pay anything towards the 6990 due ..which of course we couldn't .so he stated that he is requested by the law to send out the bailiffs to see what they could confiscate eventhough he was aware there wasnt any company assets to take. on friday there was two bailiffs waiting in a jeep outside my door . at the time i didnt know they were bailiffs..a few minutes later my husband rang me to say there were bailiffs outside looking to come in and checkwhat was available to seize....i told him there was no way they were coming into our home with just myself and the kids there alone. he rang them back to tell them he was on his way home to speak to them but they told him that they wanted a quater of the total due ie 1700 and if he didnt have any money with him that they had a truck up the street ready to take any goods they could seize  starting with our car...renault scenic. and they werent going anywhere til they got a result . he told them he'd try to get some money by the monday  so they accepted that and left ..with the threat that if they didnt get 1700 or close to it by monday ..they'd be back .my husband then rang me back to let me know what had been said and told me to go out to them as they had to hand me a warrant which i did and in the process they said that no excuse  would be accepted for non payment and that they have people on the lowest social welfare income paying them in installments.so they're bullying tactics worked and we managed to get a loan extention of 2000 on sat .when monday came my huusband rang to arrange to meet them but they gave him an account to lodge it into instead for revenue sherrif which we did.


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## whiteoaks100 (18 Oct 2011)

Bronte said:


> Step back a second whiteoaks. Your posts are hard to read.
> 
> What exactly do you have of value that the sherriff is going to take, what has he hinted that he will take, not what is on the website, that's just to scare people.
> 
> ...


 the only thing we have is  a renault scenic worth about 10,000 and other then that a laptop which is two years old .....anything else worth talking about is two tvs ,dvd and my engagement ring.


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## selfassessed (18 Oct 2011)

whiteoaks100 said:


> yes the revenue sherrif can take personal possessions to pay off business taxes



Eh, no, he can't actually


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## whiteoaks100 (18 Oct 2011)

i'm confused now...our accountant said we wouldn't be held responsible for the company debts but revenue say otherwise. i'm going to get legal advice on this matter as the revenue sherrif seem to have ultimate power here.


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## dymo (18 Oct 2011)

We owe money to the revune we met them when we found out we are paying them a set amount every month of what we can afford.They told us in april to get the money that they did not care how.But we can't the banks are not leanding so what can we do.have to say we found then grand once we spoke to them.We are not refusing to pay I have told them if we could give them the money we would but with the banks not leanding we are caught in a no win suition and there is nothing i can do.I had to show them a letter that we had applyed for a mortage but they would not give it to us.


I would try and speak to them again and get you solicitor to do it for you they are always going to try and scare you into getting the money for them.You are not the olny people that are in this trouble there is many more out there in the same boat.


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## 44brendan (18 Oct 2011)

This approach and associated tactics of Revenue Sheriff are difficult to believe. I acknowledge OP description of experience but there is no legal basis for Revenue having an ability to pursue directors personally for debts due by the company. Given that scenario virtually all developers would have had white vans pulling up outside their houses and emptying them of their contents. Are their any Accountant contributors who can throw some light on this issue??


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## mandelbrot (18 Oct 2011)

whiteoaks100 said:


> i'm confused now...our accountant said we wouldn't be held responsible for the company debts but revenue say otherwise. i'm going to get legal advice on this matter as the revenue sherrif seem to have ultimate power here.



Well ye may at some point be held personally liable, but only on foot of an order to that effect by a (high court - I think) judge.

The whole point of a Ltd company is that it is a separate legal entity from it's shareholders, so it sounds like the bailiffs are way off the mark here; all they would be entitled to seize are company assets, not personal ones.

You need to get legal assistance / advice asap.

As an aside, is it possible that Revenue have assessed you and your husband (under S997A TCA 97), for the income tax deducted but not paid over by the company on your salaries - that would be the only other way that ye could be pursued personally in this situation.


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## JoeRoberts (18 Oct 2011)

is the outstanding vrt related to the renault scenic you are currently using ?
Did you by any chance transfer the car out of the company to yourselves ?


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## whiteoaks100 (19 Oct 2011)

no its our own..nothing to do with company at all...


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## whiteoaks100 (19 Oct 2011)

mandelbrot said:


> Well ye may at some point be held personally liable, but only on foot of an order to that effect by a (high court - I think) judge.
> 
> The whole point of a Ltd company is that it is a separate legal entity from it's shareholders, so it sounds like the bailiffs are way off the mark here; all they would be entitled to seize are company assets, not personal ones.
> 
> ...


then we are personally liable as its tax due on our salaries as employees. thanks for the insight.
we contacted revenue sherrif yesterday to figure out where to go from here and to sort out an installment plan but he said we had to deal with the bailiff from now on (ie the guys he sent out)...which in itself is confusing as the sherrif is the bailiff i thought . anyway my husband rang them and must admit the guy he spoke to was very curteous. but he said he'd have to speak with the sherrif about a payment plan...huh??..we are to get back to him in a few days with a figure we can afford and see what they say.as i said earlier the general rule on installment plans (from what the rule books say) is two years max but in todays economy thats totally unrealistic . 
we contacted mabs 2 weeks ago but they say theres a backlog and we have to wait for a callback. i'm hoping with their help ..the sherrif will agree to a realistic figure within our means.mabs should be able to help seeing as its a personal debt i hope ..


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## Bronte (19 Oct 2011)

To summarise the rules.

Revenue sheriff can send out bailiffs to seize goods, but if it's business taxes he cannot take personal items only business assets but if the taxes owed are 'personal' taxes such as the case here (employee paye/prsi) they can take personal goods. 

The only asset the bailiff can take in this case is the Renault Scenic. The question then is will they ? Would the fact that it's the only family vehicle count for anything? It is at least worth 10K so that is a sizable sum. Presumable if it was a banger worth 1K they wouldn't bother. 

Whiteoaks what is the year of purchase of the car? Where are you getting a value of 10K from. They are not going to take the laptop and Tv's etc.

At least it is revenue bailiff's they are not going to do anything untoward. They will keep to the letter of the law and their job is to enforce the order they have. Part of this is them 'scaring' you into paying something and it worked. Being realistic you''ll have to come up with a payment plan. But if you have no income then your realistic amount will probably be around the 5 Euro mark. They are not going to be impressed with that. But if you don't have income you cannot pay and they will have to be realistic. Do not borrow for this, unless you can afford the borrowings. 

How are you paying the credit union loan? And your solicitor? Do you think it might be a good idea for you to do the money makeover thread. It will help you to get a clearer idea of your finances maybe, and another viewpoint. I think you also need to speak to Mabs, have you explainted to Mabs how urgent it is and how worried you are?


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## Bronte (19 Oct 2011)

44brendan said:


> This approach and associated tactics of Revenue Sheriff are difficult to believe. I acknowledge OP description of experience. Given that scenario virtually all developers would have had white vans pulling up outside their houses and emptying them of their contents.


 
By the time revenue eventually get court orders and send out bailiff's all the Picasso's and luxury cars have been well gotton rid of.  Developers will have been well advised by their solicitors and accountants on that.  

It's not a nice experience for the OP, I can see why it would be frightening but it is not the fault of the revenue or the sheriff or the bailiff's that they have to chase the money.  They are doing it for all compliant tax payers.  I'm not saying OP is not complaint and can well see how the business has gone bust.  These are tough times.


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## Nige (19 Oct 2011)

Even if some of the company's outstanding taxes relate to PAYE/PRSI I cannot see how the sherriff/bailiff can take the couple's family car.  The taxes owed are owed by the company and it appears the company has no assets.

The facility under section 997A to recoup the unpaid taxes on the directors' own salary is done by not allowing a credit for the PAYE which should have been paid over. But, to do this, the Revenue must raise and assessment showing income tax due by the couple and only if this is not paid (and not appealed) can they then send the sherrif after them personally.


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## mcaul (19 Oct 2011)

Here's some advice that will get the revenue off your back and even get you money back.

GET AN ACCOUNTANT - Particulary one that is good at taxes.

Ditch the solicitor - they may be good at legal stuff, but I've yet to find a solicitor good at accounts / taxation. - Revenue don;t talk solicitor language, but revenue and accountants both speak from same page.

Have accountant run the rule over both your personal earnings and company books over the past 4 years. See if / where you have put money into the company to stay afloat. If the company still owes you that money, re-do your taxes to show income from the company was partly loans to the company being paid off.

Check for any and every possible personal allowance - clothing allowances, travelling allowances, rent allowances, contribution to household bills if operated for home etc etc.

You may very well have revenue paying YOU money. - If you want a good tax saving accountant pm me and I'll give you details of my guy.

And thankfully these days, good accountants don't cost too much and are affordable for even the worst cases.


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## mandelbrot (20 Oct 2011)

mcaul said:


> Have accountant run the rule over both your personal earnings and company books over the past 4 years. See if / where you have put money into the company to stay afloat. If the company still owes you that money, re-do your taxes to show income from the company was partly loans to the company being paid off.


 
WOW! 

Have you actually seen this done in practice, and subsequently allowed when audited by Revenue?? - because an audit is exactly what tends to happen when Revenue say you owe them money, and you then turn around and attempt to change history and say, actually ye owe me money!

I have actually heard of an attempt at this, that was refused by Revenue, and subsequently refused again on appeal to the Appeal Commissioner. AFAIK Revenue are now being very watchful for attempts at this, as more and more companies / directors are attempting it as a means of retrospective tax planning.

The fact is that remuneration was paid, and PAYE / PRSI accrued accordingly. I assume that the directors also filed personal income tax returns for each year, which were based on their P60 figures. So both the company, and the directors as separate legal persons, have represented that their remuneration was X amount. These are matters of fact.

The company should also have been filing accounts to the CRO each year, which the directors will have signed, confirming that the director's remuneration was X amount (which would agree with the company's PAYE/PRSI records and the directors' personal tax returns).

Basically in the absence of a fraud or a fundamental error, there is no basis to make this kind of amendment. There clearly is neither in this scenario; people consciously choose to draw money out of a company by way of taxed remuneration, and just because subsequently it becomes apparent that there was a more tax efficient option available to them, it doesn't and cannot change the facts that prevailed at the time the payments were made. If it was a salary when paid, then it will always be a salary.

It's like picking a dish from a menu at a restaurant, eating it, and then when presented with the bill, deciding you would like them to agree that you didn't actually have the lobster, it was actually the soup and bread...

I strongly recommend giving this approach a very wide berth...


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## whiteoaks100 (25 Oct 2011)

hello once more
thankyou everyone that offered advice on our predicament..much appreciated and supportive.
just to let you know how it all panned out...
the bailiffs rang my husband this morning enquiring of our intention to pay an installment plan.they were demanding a period of no longer then the 9th Aug 2012 12 midnight to have the balance of 5290 repayed.workingout the calculations that would have been roughly 160 a week which was totally unrealistic. the bailiff stated that the sherrif would not give any longer then this time span...my husband arguing the case that it was totally impossible to pay that amount only got the reply that it all had to paid by 12 aug or they would begin repossession order.. he "helpfully" stated we could pay less weekly but give lump sum installments when money available. he was giving us til 11 Nov to give an answer.
following the phone call we got on to collector general again and eventually was put through to another lady who was dealing with our case re rct tax due  ie the other revenue bill for 4100. she was able to pull out our file showing all income details ,sw payments etc. my husband relayed the previous phone call he'd had with bailiffs and pleaded to her that if he was forced to make these payments to sherrif weekly  then he'd have no chance of attempting to pay the rct amount of 4100. 
long and short of the story is that she managed to contact the revenue sherrif and call him off..so THANKGOD NO bailiff on our backs now. their fees and sherrifs fees came out of the 1700 we paid and the balance of a mere 600 came off our revenue bill(which now has both the income tax and rct combined into one). the lady was extremely helpful and said she was deferring our payments until our circumstances improved but that if we could make some small payment every so often just to show we were attempting to repay then it would suffice. 
we are still awaiting a meeting with mabs to work out a budget for repayment and once in place we will diligently pay whatever amount is deemed suitable and affordable .
one huge sigh of relief from us though.all i can say though is the rules and regulations regarding sherrifs and the bailiffs enforced by them ought to be re outlined and re structured in todays society...alot of cases are cases where the individual simply can't pay as opposed to refusing to pay and being literally bullied by "legalized"thugs does not help any situation except of course the pockets of those enforcing it.
my husband is on antidepressants after the stress of it all and my own health has declined through all the worry.but thankfully we have a reprieve and prayers were answered .thank youagain for all the well informed advice .


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## 44brendan (25 Oct 2011)

Good to hear that a pragmatic approach was agreed by the Revenue. I'm assuming that you were very lucky in being able to contact someone who was both helpful and realistic. I acknowledge the exteme stress this situation has put you both under and wish you all the best for the future.


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## whiteoaks100 (25 Oct 2011)

we are extremely grateful to that lady and yes we were very lucky to have found her on other side of phone (",)


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## mcaul (28 Oct 2011)

mandelbrot said:


> WOW!
> 
> Have you actually seen this done in practice, and subsequently allowed when audited by Revenue?? - because an audit is exactly what tends to happen when Revenue say you owe them money, and you then turn around and attempt to change history and say, actually ye owe me money!
> 
> ...


yes and it was audited and accepted, but in my case the revenue had not asked for anything first and company accounts were behind by 2 years (previous accountant had joined some religious sect and caused unbelievable problems which thankfully revenue knew about). I was also quite lucky to get one of the better (nicer) audit people and the accounts were presented in top notch order so her job was quite easy. - wife got the refund based on the amount of tax she paid - so in truth I didn't see a brass cent! 

edit - this arrangement cannot be done restropectively, (as said above), but it should be noted for anyone who has invested money in their own business. Draw up a proper repayment plan for any loans you have made to the business and gradually draw the loans down in the same way you would be paying abck a loan to a financial institution.


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