Cancelling a dividend
Can a company cancel a dividend that had been paid to its director, that was fraudulent, pay its creditor, then resubmit accounts and reclaim tax if contracts were caught by IR35?
I recently won a case against a company/contractor (C) who breached a 12 month non-solicitation clause with my company, and was awarded 15% of the amount the company (C) charged my ex-client for 18 months as damages (as contracts specified). With costs the amount I am owed is almost £22,000. The judge said it was perfectly legitimate for a company to protect its business as I had.
(So much for those who think a 12 month clause is unreasonable!) I believe people should be honest in their business dealings.
During Jan 03, I sent company (C) a letter before action, followed up by an invoice.
Company (C) ignored my invoice, then awarded its director a dividend of £16,620.00 and cleared the company bank account of funds in excess of £26,000 (as the statements showed - £10,000 in cash) and attempted to strike off the company without informing me. (I believe this was a breach of the Companies Act). Luckily, I discovered this and raised an objection to Companies House. The accounts of Company (C) did not show any liabilities and not even a note of a potential (now real) liability. I view this as false accounting (a criminal matter).
The question is, if any company declared a dividend, which was shown to be fraudulent, could the company voluntarily ask for the dividend to be repaid and reclaim tax, make a payment to its creditor (£22,000), re-submit accounts, showing reduced profits and reclaim any tax paid?
As this company (C) was also caught by IR35, could it claim the £22,000 as a legitimate business expense?
Company (C) paid its director £16,620 dividend and he was a 40% tax payer.
If this dividend was repaid, how much income tax and corporation tax could be reclaimed by Company (C) and its director?
Even though Company (C) refused to settle before court action, I do not really want to call in the police and cause any more misery to this individual. I simply want what was rightfully mine and am trying to come up with a solution for Company (C) that will cost him the least amount.
Any help is appreciated.
Regards
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Petes_Pocket