Cash Business Cheque to personal account

Hi guys,

Been using a personal account for my limited company.

One of my customers has decided they want to pay by cheque. I've asked them to make it out to me personally using my name as payee rather than my ltd company name.

If they do send it with my company name instead, do you know if it is still possible to cash the cheque into my personal account?

 

No, if they make it out to the Ltd company then it has to go in to an account in that name.

 

Running a personal account for a limited company is not advised and there are potential tax consequences of doing so.

 

Also the bank could close down your account if they see business transactions going through your bank account.

 

Any legal issues if the client makes a cheque out to me personally rather than to my business?

 

If the money goes into a personal account then it is a Director's Loan and there will be tax consequences.

https://www.gov.uk/directors-loans/you-owe-your-company-money

 

Could you endorse the check over to yourself ? Is that possible in the UK? It would work in the US.

 

I'm in Hong Kong

 

I was going to ask why you didn't open a business account but the above explains everything - HSBC make it all but impossible for small businesses to open a business account in HK. It is absolutely crazy (not sure about the other banks).

But seriously, you need to be paying this money into a business account. It is not your money it is the companies money. When the tax man comes knocking they will see all this money going into your personal account and may well assume it is all salary... and thus subject to income tax.

 

Definitely, you cant encash the cheque and deposit it to your account if its not under your account's name. Hence, a business account is different from a personal account. I don't think a particular financial institution will permit the deposit.

 

I gave up with HSBC.

I'm trying to set up with SCB but they're pretty useless as well. I have been chasing an appointment with them for months.

Not really sure where to go with this. :/