HMRC Investigation might bankrupt me

Le propriétaire d'une petite entreprise de détail fait face à une enquête de l'HMRC sur la TVA et risque la faillite en raison de l'impossibilité de récupérer la TVA sur certaines ventes.

I run a small retail business and I've recently been hit with a VAT investigation from HMRC. They’re going back retroactively and asking for VAT invoices for items I purchased and resold, some from years ago. Here’s the problem: a lot of the items were from retailers like Argos. I have order confirmations and bank statements proving the purchases, but HMRC says these don’t count because they don’t include a VAT number. That means I can’t reclaim input VAT on a significant portion of my stock. Now they’re saying I owe VAT on the sale of these goods, without the ability to offset the input VAT. This has completely destroyed my margins. In fact, the amount I owe in VAT is now greater than any profit I’ve ever made and more than I currently have. I’ve spent years building this business, and now it feels like I’m going to lose everything and still end up deep in debt. I’m feeling really hopeless and overwhelmed, and genuinely suicidal. If anyone has any advice, I would truly appreciate it. Has anyone been through something similar? Is there any path forward in a case like this?