InsolvencyBlog

The Government has introduced new legislation into the Corporation Tax Acts covering Extra-Statutory Concession C16 (ESC C16) which took effect on 1 March 2012.

Previously, with the prior consent of HMRC, distributions to shareholders as part of an informal winding-up prior to a company being struck off the Companies Register, were taxed as a capital receipt. The new Order [1] caps the limit of total distributions which can be treated as such at £25,000.

The UK insolvency regime began preparing for the 21st century with the Cork Report in 1982. That led directly to the Insolvency Act 1986, introducing the rescue mechanisms of administration and voluntary arrangements. Major refinements followed with the Enterprise Act 2002, enhancing the new mechanisms and facilitating the constructive use of insolvency procedures.

Since then, however, it has not been entirely plain sailing:

The government consultation Reform of the Process to Apply for Bankruptcy and Compulsory Winding Up, which proposes adjudication by Insolvency Service staff rather than a court hearing of most petitions for bankruptcy and companies winding-up, has begun to trigger debate.

The failure of directors to notify the company, in accordance with Paragraph 26, Schedule B1, Insolvency Act 1986, of their intention to appoint administrators does not necessarily render the administrators' appointment invalid.

In two carefully considered judgments in cases heard on consecutive days in November 2011, the most recent of which was handed down on 21 December:

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In a statement on insolvency practitioner regulation today (20.12.11) The Minister for Employment Relations, Consumers and Postal Affairs [and Insolvency] recognised strong stakeholder support for an independent single regulator.