Bentleys Chartered Accountants of Bolton are highlighting that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is not doing enough to help small firms, after new figures revealed the government was behind almost half of all court petitions seeking to wind up companies.

John Shaw, Partner from Bentleys said “The Guardian newspaper reported that HMRC had been behind 43% of creditor petitions that sought to close down companies in order to recover debts over the last six months.

This is despite calls from ministers for other creditor groups, such as banks, to do everything possible to avoid letting businesses fail, and reflects the government’s dilemma between recovering the tax revenue it needs and providing some breathing space for overstretched firms”.

HMRC can offer ‘time to pay’ agreements for firms which are struggling to pay their tax bills, but is likely to be more sympathetic if it receives advanced warning of potential problems.

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