Congratulations gemgem, glad to be of service

Form 5 letters of discharge arrived in the post this morning and feel not only a little victorious but like a weight has been lifted, can't stop smiling. The ups and downs throughout have been many and thanks to this site and the fantastic help offered things have turned out well and I will definitely return from time to time to offer support to others. Once again many thanks to everyone.

congrats and thanks for sharing!

Hi

I am just off the phone to my Trustee firm BDO Stoy Hayward regarding the completion of my trustdeed. I completed my payments on 08/11/11 but have been informed of the VAT situation. They have said they will send me a letter confirming that my obligations have been met but have advised that the Trustee will remain in office until the situation is sorted. They said no dividends will be paid to any of my creditors until the VAT situation is sorted and as such my accounts will not be settled. This leaves me in exactly the same situation as before with no feeling of resolution or finality. Is there anything I can do?? I feel like i'm being punished for something which is completely outwith my control even though I paid promptly and on time every month for 3 years!

Welcome to the trust deed forum finnvanb.

I'm sorry to hear that your discharge is being held up currently.

On what date did you originally sign your trust deed?

Thankyou

I initially signed on 04/12/08. When I phoned my Trustee around a month ago there was no issues and that I should be discharged and creditors paid by around christmas/early new year. Obviously this has now changed.

Hi finnvanb

There is no reason why they cannot proceed with your discharge, however they can remain in office until it has been resolved.

I'n not entirely sure why the dividend payment is an issue as there is no VAT on this. The only vatable issue is their fees and i wonder if they will withhold feeing this. I guess they are waiting to see if they need to reclaim VAT and then pay this over via a dividend.

Personally all our cases are being closed on their 3rd anniversary. As you say, why should you be punished for maintaining your payments through the period.

Mark

Hi finnvanb.

Another forum member, Mac, just overcame a similar issue with another trust deed firm.

The thread makes interesting reading:

http://www.trust-deed.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1704

Thanks for the quick replies. I have read the other forum and may try contacting them again along the same lines.

I'm just really frustrated that they are with holding payment to my creditors because of a VAT issue on their side, this should not affect my longterm future as potentially this VAT issue could drag on for months before courts actually decide on what should happen. In the mean time my credit file is still affected when I should be closing up loose ends to clean up my file and begin the work of repairing it!

You make a fair point finnvanb and I wish you success with encouraging your trust deed firm to get on with closing your case as they appear to be able to.

If it's of any reassurance, insolvency practitioners received the clearest notification that I've seen yet of HMRC's position on their activities and VAT today (via an email from one of their trade bodies). I'm not sure that this is all going to run on for too long from here.

Hi all

Latest update (below) confirms that TD's are exempt and should be treated so (subject to each firms review of the update I guess)

'HMRC has issued the following update on their position following the Tribunal decision in the Paymex case:

HMRC continues to receive requests for rulings and as a result of these requests it has been decided that both Trust Deeds and company voluntary arrangements now qualify for exemption of VAT. HMRC has now agreed internally that for certainty, all areas of insolvency for England, Wales and Scotland must be reviewed as a matter of urgency to decide whether any further exemptions should be applied. This will however take a little while to finalise.

An amendment has already been made to VAT notice 301/49 to clarify the decision for CVAs'

Mark

Hi Mark

Thanks for the update, sounds like positive news!

I received my Form 5 in the post on friday so will call BDO tomorrow and find out if they will pay out the dividend to my creditors soon...the end may be in sight! 🙂

If you've got your Form 5 then that means you are discharged finnvanb, so congratulations - you no longer have any debts. The distribution to creditors isn't something you need to worry about, it will happen in due course but it is only your trustee who cannot be discharged until that happens