When a company is dissolved by striking off, any assets that remain in the company at the date of dissolution (including share capital) become Bona Vacantia or ownerless goods. Ownerless goods become Crown property. It is very expensive to reinstate a company to the Register in order to recover your assets.
How to avoid Bona Vacantia
- Do not apply to strike off a company until it has ceased trading and collected in all its debts.
- Ensure all its assets are distributed and the company bank account is closed before it is struck off the Companies Register.
- Perform a capital reduction in order to distribute any non-distributable reserves prior to striking off to ensure that excess amounts are not claimed by the Crown.
As with all of our tax tips and web pages this information is necessarily summarised and of a general nature. If you would like detailed specific advice please contact us.