RoyalBlueStrandedSnowflake Royal That seems unlikely... I thought legal functions were skewed heavily to reaching settlements without having to go through the full process.
Everything I have read suggests the formal process is as follows:
Petition filed for by creditor
Company issues a response which may be payment in full, or via agreed plan.
Court hearing has to occur for court to review the petition and the company response. If the court then grants the petition based on the facts presented, it becomes an order.
A petition is the course of last resort to get payment so is only used if absolutely necessary, the nature of the petition means it has to go to court to be cleared even if the company pays up and as other creditors could also support the petition - so in theory, we could reach agreement with HMRC but be wound up as another creditor sees it as the only way to get paid.
The law isn't quite that big an ass. A winding up petition can be withdrawn by the petitioner (in this case HMRC) with the permission of the court.
https://windinguppetitionsolicitors.co.uk/withdrawing-a-winding-up-petition/#:~:text=How%20to%20withdraw%20a%20winding,the%20permission%20of%20the%20court.
Ok, that makes sense though ther are some fairly strict guidelines in terms of timeliness under which that can happen.
