Mark, I think that the problem is that the process is at fault as there is nothing to really differentiate between the value of the debts, things tend to be done very simplistically, As for debt recovery it's a very manual process as it requires human intervention, sure the accounting side is automated with the usual letters and default notices being churned out but it takes a human to make a phone call, etc, as a result it is more efficient to chase 1 debtor for 6 million than 60 debtors for 100 grand apiece.
Debt recovery is a slow process and I think that Leeds would have been given lots of opportunities to agree a payment timetable, but given that there aren't any 'real' assets at Leeds and that there isn't any guarantee that any invested money would have gone to the taxman and I think that a winding up order would have been only remaining option. I do know that before HMRC can write off any debts or indeed accept a percentage of what it is owed it is not a decision that is taken lightly, these things do tend to be escalated to the Exchequer and have to be publicly accounted for, as I mentioned in an earlier post I am sure that you can ask for figures under FOI, the write off process is almost as severe for debtors that only owe 10's of pounds. The real issue is that Cuddly Ken has said that 'the nasty taxman is after our money' when really he didn't give them what the were entitled to. The problem is that we will never find out what happened we can only speculate on what we know. Leeds in the hands of the HMRC? Dude, I would like to sleep without mightmares!!!! As for precedents, I am sure that this will have happened many times before and we would never have given a second thought to it, it is just that as it has a direct affect upon us we have to show concern. Not too sure about the relegation issue but as a personal opinion only, I would have said that the recovery rate of debt would slow down given that the general expectation is that gates receipts would decrease (although I actually think that Leeds' will increase next year) whilst the cost of operations would have remained approx the same. Anyway, we are where we are as they say. Onwards and upwards. Here's to finding a new buyer. MOT Chris ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Humphries" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'Nick Allen'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 3:21 PM Subject: Re: [LU] FW: From Sq Ball re Voting Ok, as it seems to boil down to this then my opinion is 'maybe'. I understand with behemoths like HMRC that sometimes rules are rules and there is no bending, but if I were owed £600 my main concern would be getting as much of it back as possible. One choice might be to engage in a dialog, however difficult, and restructure repayments. I might be more sympathetic to this if the debtor had an impending big change of financial circumstances (like being relegated). I digress, if I sort of knew that by turning the screw I would be in danger of getting little or nothing, I would not do that unless I wanted to make a point and was prepared to lose what I was owed. It seems to me that this is what HMRC did. They must have known that by serving the winding up order, Leeds would go into administration. At that point what was their realistic best case scenario for recovering the debt? I personally think that it would be nothing like getting it all back over time. Now it appears RickD is suggesting that it wasn't the winding up order that pushed Bates into administration. I suspect he meant that we would have probably gone into admin anyway without the winding up order, but once it was served Bates had absolutely no option but to do it, and just imagine the furore if he hadn't put us into admin and allowed the future of the club to lay in the hands of the HMRC. Is there any precedent for this kind of thing? -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 04 June 2007 14:49 To: Mark Humphries; 'Nick Allen'; [email protected] Subject: Re: [LU] FW: From Sq Ball re Voting All I did say was that I thought that HMRC were right chase the debt. Cheers Briggsy _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist Join The Leeds United Supporters Trust at www.lufctrust.org _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist Join The Leeds United Supporters Trust at www.lufctrust.org
