Gurbinder Grewal and Michael Wright in the UK Construction Team explain the knock on effects of insolvencies and the mitigating steps that can be taken. Early warning signs of looming insolvency can be spotted.
Key points
Background
The Court of Appeal has considered whether interim dividends paid to a shareholder at a time when the company did not have sufficient distributable reserves, making the payments unlawful, could later be reclassified as salary payments.
Facts
The Court of Appeal has given guidance on when the duty of directors to have regard to the interest of creditors arises. This is an important point, as the general statutory duty of a director to promote the success of the company for the benefit of the company's members is expressly subject to the rules on creditors' interests. The court's decision also considers whether a dividend payment can be challenged as a transaction at an undervalue under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986.
Facts
La resolución del Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central de 6 de noviembre de 2018 reconoce el derecho a la deducción de las dotaciones a la provisión por insolvencias en el Impuesto sobre Sociedades, en el caso de transcurso del plazo de seis meses desde el vencimiento de la obligación, con solo manifestar que el crédito se reclamó por teléfono o aportando cualquier indicio de reclamación de la deuda.
Delivering on the announcement in the Autumn Budget, HMRC issued its consultation "Protecting your taxes in insolvency" on 26 February 2019. The consultation proposes legislation that will give HMRC the elevated status to secondary preferential creditor in a company's insolvency. If this is implemented, HMRC will have priority to recover certain taxes from insolvent businesses ahead of other creditors from 6 April 2020.
Receivables financiers, lenders taking security assignments over contractual rights, participants in the secondary loan market and others have an interest in:
In a decision to be welcomed by ratepayers, the Court of Appeal in Rossendale Borough Council and others v. Hurstwood Properties (A) Limited and others [2019] EWCA Civ 364 has confirmed that certain types of mitigation schemes are not sufficient to pierce the corporate veil and transfer liability for business rates to the beneficiaries of those schemes.
Liability for business rates
La Ley del IVA (Ley 37/1992, de 28 de diciembre), prevé la posibilidad de que el sujeto pasivo recupere las cuotas del impuesto repercutidas y no cobradas cuando, entre otros supuestos, el destinatario de los bienes o servicios se encuentre inmerso en un procedimiento concursal.
La DRGN en la Resolución de 19 de diciembre 2018 valora la posibilidad de inscribir la liquidación y extinción de una sociedad en cuya hoja registral consta inscrita una declaración de insolvencia provisional practicada en el ámbito laboral.