Taxman nearly ruined us

AN ISLAY hotel owner has launched a scathing attack on HMRC after an error by the tax body nearly drove her out of business.

Katie MacLellan, who runs the Lochindaal Hotel at Port Charlotte along with her husband Iain, was horrified last month to discover a public notice in

The Oban Times announcing the winding up of the firm.

Mrs MacLellan said the advertisement resulted in the hotel’s bank shutting its account, suppliers refusing to deal with them and customers cancelling visits. The notice was placed in The

Oban Times of April 14 and coincided with the death of Mr MacLellan’s mother, Rose, who had been involved in the hotel for many years.

Mrs MacLellan said: ‘I cannot overstate the damage that has been done to our business. We have been left reeling and trying to placate our suppliers and trying to get back our customers, who had gone haywire.

‘ We have struggled. It hasn’t been great.

‘I never realised the power of the press. We were never insolvent but some over-zealous person at the HMRC in Edinburgh decided to go ahead and place an ad in The Oban Times announcing we were being wound up.

‘We knew nothing about it and were not given any chance to try to sort out the situation. Our accountant said he had never known anything like it.

‘It was bizarre. The notice was placed without any due process.’

Mrs MacLellan said the stress caused to her family was compounded by the death of her mother-in-law.

She added: ‘It was awful. All this was happening while we were trying to organise the funeral. We had to phone Companies House to make sure they knew that Lochindaal Trading Ltd was still a good company. And we had trouble with the bank after it shut all our accounts. That took 10 days to sort out.

‘It is amazing what a tiny public notice can do. Although the advert was tiny, the damage was huge.

‘However, everything is sorted out now. We are still solvent and sorted out with Companies House.

‘Lochindaal Trading Limited trading as the Lochindaal Hotel in Port Charlotte is very much still in business.

‘The notice was placed in error and both customers and suppliers should be reassured that the hotel is very much open for business as usual.’

A spokesman for HMRC said: ‘HMRC does not comment on the tax affairs of individuals.

‘Our aim is to efficiently collect the debts due and to prevent things deteriorating further.

‘ We only initiate winding-up action where we believe this is the best way to protect both the interests of other taxpayers and creditors. Anyone who anticipates payment problems should call us as early as possible as we have an outstanding track record for supporting those with genuine problems.’

The Lochindaal Hotel has been in the MacLellan family for more than 100 years.

Mr MacLellan, who is also the head chef, and Mrs MacLellan and their five children are the latest generation to run the business. The hotel has two bars, a restaurant renowned for its seafood and an impressive collection of whiskies. It also has nine bedrooms.