Thousands of directors and contractors are expediting the closure of their companies via a Members’ Voluntary Liquidation (MVL) because of the associated benefits, says Carolynn Best of Begbies Traynor Leicester.
The advantages include the payroll working rules (IR35) that are set to go ahead in April 2021, being able to extract funds in a cost-efficient manner (10% taxation is available), being able to choose the 2020/21 tax period over 2021/22, pre-empting potential changes in taxes, and a swift and orderly wind-up for otherwise very busy people.
It’s likely that the Treasury will look to claw back funds in a number of ways following its astronomical efforts to support businesses and employees during lockdown. Examples may involve:
tax rises from April 5, 2021
an aggressive approach to IR35
abolishment of Business Asset Disposal Relief (formerly known as Entrepreneurs’ Relief)
It is reasonable to assume that of the 50,000 Personal Service Companies (PSCs) in the UK, many directors/shareholders may try leaving this till early 2021.
The risk of doing this is that contractor accountants, insolvency practitioners and even HMRC become overwhelmed (the MVL process takes four to six weeks from start to finish in normal times).
Will a director be able to maximise the value of his PSC, protect his tax position, and get this done in time, or risk leaving it too late?
We recommend dealing with this well in advance of April 5, 2021.
Our advice to those considering a solvent company closure is to take advice as soon as possible.
What is an MVL?
A Members’ Voluntary Liquidation is a formal process for closing down a solvent company in a cost effective and tax efficient manner. An MVL allows you to extract funds in a cost efficient method as this will be treated as capital, rather than dividends.
Read the full article in Niche Magazine.
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