Very late payment of tax

Went to see HMRC today to explain the situation, they were having none of it.

Jim

No surprises there Simon, but thank you for letting us know.

Your best bet is to let your usual professional adviser handle HMRC but don't bank on having any time to pay! Have the bank loan/mortgage lined up because I think you will need it.

I did not give a mixed message.

In brief my point was that HMRC are usualy resonable to deal with but must be respected as they have a lot of power.

I also advised that the OP seek the advice from a Financial Advisor.

I agree that they are usually easy to deal with. They only have the power granted to them by law, which is to collect taxes due. They do not have power to act as bankers or defer payment of tax, unless that is their only way of getting the tax. In that case they have to charge interest and a penalty. To do otherwise would be unfair on the rest of us. I agree that the OP should seek advice from a tax specialist.

I'm not trying to be picky.. honest....

But you seem to be unduly concerned with emotional words like 'not fair' and 'no sympathey'... In reality it's just a business transaction, certainly HMRC aren't very concerned about 'fairness' when it comes to reimbursing tax in a speedy manner.

Sorry Adrian, you seem to be misunderstanding me! I don't recall saying "not fair" but I did say "no sympathy" but that was merely illustrating what kind of reaction the OP should expect from HMRC. I do understand its a business transaction and that was what I was trying to get across to the OP. I was not implying that the situation was not fair to the OP... it IS all about fairness between taxpayers though.