hmrc, which way forward

[chocolate cooky]

hi i need advise on the following,my partner(bussiness) and i have just recently sold our hotel as bussiness just went really bad the proceeds of the sale have paid off all the creditors with the exeption of the inland revenue and 3 others.
we have at the moment about 15thousand pounds liability to hmrc and 6thousand pounds to the 3 other creditors.
now i could pay half of the liability to hmrc but not the others this would constitute my half of the liability to hmrc.
there was simply no more money left when we paid off the creditors.
my partner is in a much worse position she has nothing at all and has even had to claim benefits,and obviosley cant afford to pay the hmrc or the others anything.
she is considering going bankrupt.
niether of us have any assets to use.
should i pay half of the hmrc debt.
will i be liable for her half.
can she include the hmrc debt in her bankruptcy
the libility is made up of vat and paye.
thank you:|

[Philip Hoyle]

Don't pay anyone anything until you've spoken to an insolvency practitioner as if you're not going to pay all your debts, you need to know which have legal precedence (if any) and then you have to pay all creditors "fairly", i.e. you can't pay one but not the other, all equal creditors have to be paid the same proportion.

Each business partner is jointly and severally liable for the debts of the business, so if your partner can't pay her share, the creditors (including HMRC) can come after you for her share as well.

You need proper advice by someone qualified in insolvency matters who is in possession of all facts. Before you get that advice, do nothing.

[Spongebob]

Don't pay anyone anything until you've spoken to an insolvency practitioner

mmm...

Give the IP your last seven and a half grand and all your problems are solved!

Insolvency Practitioners exist to extract money from people down on their luck. They are not in the business of giving advice.

A debt counsellor would be a more appropriate first port of call.

Next time, operate as a limited company.