We are seeing a marked increase in HMRC’s use of provisional liquidations particularly where umbrella companies are concerned. Some readers may have an opinion on umbrella companies and may argue that HMRC are on the right track, personally, and in the immortal words of the fictional Francis Urquart: “You might very well think that. I couldn’t possibly comment“. That said, anyone who has been directly involved in working these cases will know how draconian the granting of a provisional liquidation order can be on the directors and by extension, their families.
Such orders include the appointment of a liquidator who quite naturally is charged with preserving the assets of the company, investigating the conduct of the directors and retrieving company assets where there have been dispositions contrary to both company and insolvency law. Clients have had their offices and homes searched; business accounts frozen and limitations imposed on their ability to draw funds from these and in some instances, their personal bank accounts.
There are reasons why the insolvency act provides for a provisional liquidation and no doubt HMRC have genuine reasons for seeking the court’s consent to the grant of such an order. Trust me when I say that judges in these (ex-parte) cases are no walk overs and put up quite strenuous counter arguments to submissions made by HMRC and their counsel but there is no denying that there is usually a public interest argument for the consideration of the taking of the decision to intervene in the company in this manner.
If you’ve read this far then you won’t be surprised to learn that there is a reason for today’s blog on this subject. We have received yet another request from a client in dire need for assistance with their case and as I thrive off unusual and/or complicated cases, I’m more than likely going to say yes to taking their instructions. The thing is; despite the onboarding of colleagues to my team, I am nearing capacity, and besides this, I really could do with the input of a tax lawyer/investigator/specialist with experience in this area and thought I’d reach out to my LinkedIn contacts to see who might be interested in working with me on one of these cases – needless to say this would be on a consultancy basis.
So, sticking with my tv/film references, as Gabrielle Union once said, if you got it: “Bring It” (please!?!). Might be best to call, DM or email me for an initial chat.
Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash
