The number of businesses that have had their assets seized by HMRC has more than doubled in the past year according to a recent study by Funding Options. The study found that the number of businesses that had their assets seized in order to settle an outstanding debt increased from 649 in the year ending March 2015 to 1,592 for the same period ending March 2016. The debts these assets were seized to cover also increased to £43m from the previous year’s figure of £15m.

HMRC uses powers under the ‘taking control of goods’ regulations in order to settle debts from businesses unable to pay their outstanding tax bills. The seized assets were subsequently sold at auction.

The study suggests that although this may be the last resort, HMRC is starting to take increasingly aggressive methods to recover the overdue tax. The chief executive of Funding Options said ‘Often small business owners aren’t aware of the many options available to them outside traditional bank lending. Peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, asset finance and invoice finance, as well as specialist products designed to finance tax bills, can all be viable routes to access the capital they need.’

The chief executive of Funding Options said ‘Often small business owners aren’t aware of the many options available to them outside traditional bank lending. Peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, asset finance and invoice finance, as well as specialist products designed to finance tax bills, can all be viable routes to access the capital they need.’

Is your business struggling to keep up payments to HMRC? If so then it is important to take appropriate advice to ascertain the options available to you and to avoid HMRC taking drastic action. One of our experienced practitioners would be happy to arrange a meeting to discuss the options to assist with your business planning, initially on a free of charge basis. Contact us.