Balance Sheet (Creditor amount falling due within one year)

[Steve668]

Hi,

I am closing down my Ltd Company, as I have not traded since COVID and I am no longer trading. It is dormant at HMRC with no cash or assets and I closed the bank account down some time back, as it was costing me in fees each month with no money coming in. The company owes me some money which includes bank fees and working from home fees to mention a few bits, that is shown on my balance sheet as "Creditors - amounts falling due within one year" (to me) and has done so for a few years.

I understand that I still need to file a confirmation statement (that I now pay out of my personal bank account) and annual accounts to Companies House. I also understand that I need to complete a Company Tax Returns to the HMRC if instructed to do so, after informing the HMRC it is now dormant.

My questions:
Can I apply to dissolve the company with money it owes me and still showing as a "Creditors - amounts falling within one year", or do I have to go down a different path, even though I agree that it's money I will not receive as the only creditor of my company?

Assuming I can just apply to be struck off (DS01 via Companies House), when I do my last returns to the HMRC, should I remove the amount the company owes me from the balance sheet (add zero), so that I submit my last paperwork as nothing being owed to creditors, or can I dissolve the company with the amount the company still owes me, shown on the balance sheet?

Another option I assume would be to continue to pay the £15 per year confirmation statement, keep sending my balance sheet in with the same figures and wait to be struck off over time?

I have no other creditors or liabilities, other than the company owing me some money.

Thank you

Jane

 

[Ziggy2024]

You can dissolve the company if the only creditor is you. Depends what your future plans are, but you can always incorporate a new company if you need it in the future.

If you keep filing the company won't be struck off. It will only be struck off if you fail to file. Confirmation statements are now £34 per year if you file online.

 

[ChrisCallaghan]

Hi Jane,

Welcome to UKBF!

Can I apply to dissolve the company with money it owes me and still showing as a "Creditors - amounts falling within one year", or do I have to go down a different path, even though I agree that it's money I will not receive as the only creditor of my company?

As @Ziggy2024 has commented, as you are the sole creditor of the company, then yes you can apply to strike off without worry.

Another option I assume would be to continue to pay the £15 per year confirmation statement, keep sending my balance sheet in with the same figures and wait to be struck off over time?

Again, as @Ziggy2024 has suggested, if you keep filing confirmation statement and accounts, it won't be struck off, but if there is any chance of you trading through a limited company in the future, it could be beneficial to hold onto the company given the balance it owes you.

Is there any small chance you may need a limited company in the future?

 

[Steve668]

Hi Jane,

Welcome to UKBF!



As @Ziggy2024 has commented, as you are the sole creditor of the company, then yes you can apply to strike off without worry.

Again, as @Ziggy2024 has suggested, if you keep filing confirmation statement and accounts, it won't be struck off, but if there is any chance of you trading through a limited company in the future, it could be beneficial to hold onto the company given the balance it owes you.

Is there any small chance you may need a limited company in the future?

Thank you Ziggy and Chris for your replies.

There is no chance of starting this company up again, for a variety of reasons and the amount of money the company owes me on the Creditors Due / Balance Sheet is too small for me to concern myself with trying to get it back. At the moment, anything I am now paying out, comes out of my personal account, so all I would be doing would be adding to the "Creditors due with one year" figure each year and then trying to find clients again, to pay myself back, which would mean me paying advertising costs and more money I would be adding to the balance sheet.

Can I therefore confirm, the balance sheet can show the creditors (amount falling due within one year - to me and nobody else) amount / figure higher than zero when I apply for a strike off?

Thank you.

 

[ChrisCallaghan]

Can I therefore confirm, the balance sheet can show the creditors (amount falling due within one year - to me and nobody else) amount / figure higher than zero when I apply for a strike off?

Absolutely - no issue with applying to strike off in this scenario.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi,

I am closing down my Ltd Company, as I have not traded since COVID and I am no longer trading. It is dormant at HMRC with no cash or assets and I closed the bank account down some time back, as it was costing me in fees each month with no money coming in. The company owes me some money which includes bank fees and working from home fees to mention a few bits, that is shown on my balance sheet as "Creditors - amounts falling due within one year" (to me) and has done so for a few years.

I understand that I still need to file a confirmation statement (that I now pay out of my personal bank account) and annual accounts to Companies House. I also understand that I need to complete a Company Tax Returns to the HMRC if instructed to do so, after informing the HMRC it is now dormant.

My questions:
Can I apply to dissolve the company with money it owes me and still showing as a "Creditors - amounts falling within one year", or do I have to go down a different path, even though I agree that it's money I will not receive as the only creditor of my company?

Assuming I can just apply to be struck off (DS01 via Companies House), when I do my last returns to the HMRC, should I remove the amount the company owes me from the balance sheet (add zero), so that I submit my last paperwork as nothing being owed to creditors, or can I dissolve the company with the amount the company still owes me, shown on the balance sheet?

Another option I assume would be to continue to pay the £15 per year confirmation statement, keep sending my balance sheet in with the same figures and wait to be struck off over time?

I have no other creditors or liabilities, other than the company owing me some money.

Thank you

Jane

Yes you can apply for striking-off if you are the only creditor.

When you prepare the final accounts for the company you don't remove yourself as a creditor.

Are you sure you need to prepare any further accounts if the company hasnt been trading and you will be applying for striking-off?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

If you are dealing with the striking-off yourself the guidance here may help -

Strike off your limited company from the Companies Register

How to close down your limited company by getting it struck off the Companies Register

www.gov.uk

 

[Steve668]

Yes you can apply for striking-off if you are the only creditor.

When you prepare the final accounts for the company you don't remove yourself as a creditor.

Are you sure you need to prepare any further accounts if the company hasnt been trading and you will be applying for striking-off?

The company is registered at HMRC as a dormant company that has not traded this tax year, with a view of now trying to close it down. Realistically, the last payment I received via the business was in May 2021. My last returns for 2022 / 2023 saw all my figures as zeros, apart from my balance sheet showing me as the only creditor, which now increases in size, due to me paying for things myself now. (Previously these were things like Company bank charges (before I closed the account down), Companies House confirmation statement and up until recently, working from home costs that I claimed for (I worked at home, as well as visiting clients).

Based on the replies from this forum and that I can apply to Strike Off with a balance sheet / (creditors) debt above zero (me being the only creditor), I am now going to complete a DS01 and then monitor what I need to do if I receive letters from Companies House and the HMRC between now and the end of this tax year. I assumed after submitting a DS01, I will need to complete one final bit of paperwork via HMRC online services, such as preparing a final dormant accounts, or something like this, one last time and this would show HMRC that I still had creditors and my balance sheet was above zero in this area, which was my concern. I had read I can simply update this to zero as I am the only creditor and it's my choice. I also read if I did this, it would show as a profit of some type and I might be subject to corporation tax. Another area I read about was to use some type of liquidation and insolvency service, because it has debt. It became misleading when reading some websites (including the .GOV)

At the start of the next tax year, I will check the status again using HMRC Online Services to see if all has closed down successfully, or if I am expected to complete more (dormant accounts) paperwork.

My confirmation statement is due at the beginning of January, so I am assuming I will need to pay this token fee, due to the time the DS01 will take to go through. As well as the DS01 and last confirmation statement, hopefully that's my last outgoing.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

The company is registered at HMRC as a dormant company that has not traded this tax year, with a view of now trying to close it down. Realistically, the last payment I received via the business was in May 2021. My last returns for 2022 / 2023 saw all my figures as zeros, apart from my balance sheet showing me as the only creditor, which now increases in size, due to me paying for things myself now. (Previously these were things like Company bank charges (before I closed the account down), Companies House confirmation statement and up until recently, working from home costs that I claimed for (I worked at home, as well as visiting clients).

Based on the replies from this forum and that I can apply to Strike Off with a balance sheet / (creditors) debt above zero (me being the only creditor), I am now going to complete a DS01 and then monitor what I need to do if I receive letters from Companies House and the HMRC between now and the end of this tax year. I assumed after submitting a DS01, I will need to complete one final bit of paperwork via HMRC online services, such as preparing a final dormant accounts, or something like this, one last time and this would show HMRC that I still had creditors and my balance sheet was above zero in this area, which was my concern. I had read I can simply update this to zero as I am the only creditor and it's my choice. I also read if I did this, it would show as a profit of some type and I might be subject to corporation tax. Another area I read about was to use some type of liquidation and insolvency service, because it has debt. It became misleading when reading some websites (including the .GOV)

At the start of the next tax year, I will check the status again using HMRC Online Services to see if all has closed down successfully, or if I am expected to complete more (dormant accounts) paperwork.

My confirmation statement is due at the beginning of January, so I am assuming I will need to pay this token fee, due to the time the DS01 will take to go through. As well as the DS01 and last confirmation statement, hopefully that's my last outgoing.

Do have a read of the link I gave you - it explains what you need to do and when.

In particualr do make sure you notify HMRC of the striking-off. Send them a copy of the DS01 and tell them the date your company ceased trading.

Companies House don't pursue Confirmation statements once they have a DS01 so that's one less expense.

 

[Steve668]

Do have a read of the link I gave you - it explains what you need to do and when.

In particualr do make sure you notify HMRC of the striking-off. Send them a copy of the DS01 and tell them the date your company ceased trading.

Companies House don't pursue Confirmation statements once they have a DS01 so that's one less expense.

Thank you again. I looked at the link several weeks back when trying to carry out a strike off. However, it raised other questions I was not able to find answers to online in regards to me being the only creditor on the balance sheet and being happy to accept the loss and then questions about what the balance sheet should show (Show zero, as I am happy to take the loss, or show the creditor amount owed to me - which I now know needs to continue to show the creditor amount owed to me). When I started reading what is required if you have creditors, it was not clear what action you should take with my particular circumstances and there seems to be lots mentioned on liquidation services and costing me more money to close the company. Based on information I was finding online, I was going to leave it dormant, until I Companies House forcibly closed it down. Ideally, I'd like to close it in an official way. Hence me raising the question and joining this great website with a wealth of knowledge and helpful people : -)

I will send HMRC a copy of the DS01. Thank you for the tip.

Thank you also for letting me know Companies House do not pursue Confirmation statements.