Money Laundering Red Flag

 

The question here is it only the cab company that looks dodgy, or the council as well?

Over to you HMRC!

Source. 

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Vape Shops Galore are Licensed Visa Sponsors

 

🇬🇧 There are 79 vape shops on the Home Office’s public register of licensed visa sponsors.

‘Guardian Vapes Ltd’ in South Shields is licensed to sponsor overseas workers via the ‘Skilled Worker Visa’ route. 🧵1/3 pic.twitter.com/7BDL047ZjE

— The Procurement Files (@procurementfile) May 28, 2026

Here is the government link to the full list. 

Does this not possibly represent an AML flag?

Maybe someone in HMRC should be taking a look at this? 

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

People Smuggling Under The Very Noses of HMRC

 

This report from the BBC (see extract below) highlights large cash payments being made in highstreet shops for smuggling illegals into the UK, these payments are meant to be picked up by HMRC as part of their AML monitoring procedures.

HMRC supervises many "high-risk" businesses for AML compliance, including money service businesses (MSBs), informal value transfer systems (like hawala-style operations), high-cash businesses (car washes, phone shops, wholesalers), and others. These are exactly the types of entities named in the BBC report.

Wake up guys! 

People smugglers are directing migrants to pay for illegal Channel crossings using a network of UK-registered businesses, a BBC investigation has found.

We secretly filmed staff at a shop in south-east London telling an undercover researcher that nearly £3,000 in cash could be deposited with them and sent to a smuggler in France.

"You put your money here. If your friends reach [the UK], you shouldn't come back," we were told at the mobile phone store in Woolwich.

Our three-month investigation gives insight into how smugglers appear to be using UK companies' bank accounts to facilitate small-boat crossings - something a leading expert in criminal finance told us he had not seen before.

Our findings suggest a "brazen attitude" by smugglers, says Tom Keatinge, from the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) security think tank.

"It is a concern that... people feel sufficiently confident they can be out in the open."

As well as the phone shop, the smuggler in France provided the bank account details of two UK-registered companies, which he said could both take electronic transfers for migrant crossings.

One is a wholesale business in Newcastle upon Tyne, the other is a car wash in Cambridgeshire.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Lost AML Form Cost Agent £15K - HMRC Fucks Up Again

In the world of accounting and finance, precision, accuracy, and adherence to rules are not just desirable traits - they are the very foundation upon which the industry stands. However, it seems that these principles do not always apply to the institutions that govern these industries. A recent incident involving His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) serves as a stark reminder of this fact.

The Incident

An accounting firm recently found itself in the eye of a storm, all due to a misplaced anti-money laundering form at the HMRC headquarters. This seemingly minor oversight had major repercussions, leading to the firm's agent access being revoked. The result? A loss of a month's worth of work and the firm teetering on the brink of closure.

The Fallout

The suspension of the agent account meant that the firm was unable to carry out its regular operations, leading to significant delays and financial losses. The firm, like many others, relies on the agent account to interact with HMRC, submit forms, and carry out other necessary tasks. The suspension effectively crippled the firm, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the HMRC's error.

As per Accountingweb:

“I set up my firm five years ago and it grew during Covid. From the start, I’ve been supervised for money laundering by ICAEW. The only interaction I have with HMRC is as an agent.

In September 2021, I received a request status from HMRC asking who is supervising me for money laundering. I returned the AML 103 form in the post as requested to HMRC in October 2021.

Unfortunately, it landed at HMRC and went into the wrong workflow. It later transpired that the person who received it took 53 days to get through their workload, get to my form and realise it had nothing to do with them, at which point they gave it back to the main switchboard. 

In the meantime, I was struck off as a non-responder. This resulted in my agent status being removed, along with my ability to submit corporation tax and self assessment returns, which make up the bulk of my work. This was on 2 Dec 2021, at my firm’s busiest time.

With no agent services login, I lost the ability to trade – it was awful. I tried calling, writing and emailing but just couldn’t get an answer.

The ‘agent maintainer’ team is apparently responsible for this, but they don’t accept emails or phone calls. There’s no follow-up, you can’t speak to this team – it’s an almost mythical department. They have a ‘service level agreement’ to respond to letters within 40 days, but that’s no good when I can’t run my business.

Because I’ve previously worked on committees for ICAEW, I was fortunate to know the right people to call at the Institute. After a bit of back and forth, they had someone literally walk the corridors of HMRC to find this team and ask them. Without this, they’d have been completely unaccountable. 

I lost a whole month's business, around £15,000. It had a catastrophic impact on my firm, which was in its infancy and could have gone under. As it was, I had a terrible January with a whole pile of work and a massive cashflow hole – with all the costs of December with no income. I spent the next six to eight months just recovering.  

Naturally, I complained and got my MP involved. By March 2022, HMRC accepted my complaint and offered me £150 compensation. This was not at all acceptable and they said I had the right to approach the adjudicator’s office to make an independent complaint.

The adjudicator’s office came back and said they do not have jurisdiction because I’m technically not a taxpayer – in this instance, I’m treated as a service provider. The best they said they could do was to attempt to launch a Parliamentary inquiry – that’s obviously not what I was looking for.

I completely accept that it’s a process gone wrong, not someone at HMRC who hates me. But it’s their process and nobody dealt with it. If the ICAEW hadn’t got behind this, who knows where I’d be?

My case was very clearly an internal gaff, which HMRC admitted, but they were still unwilling to do anything or take responsibility. Agents don’t get a right of appeal when something like this happens, there’s no higher body. 

HMRC also needs to come to the realisation that accountants in practice are not the enemy.”

HMRC's Role

While mistakes happen in every organisation, the magnitude of the impact in this case raises questions about HMRC's processes and systems. 

How did a single misplaced form lead to such drastic consequences? 

Why was there no system in place to prevent such an oversight, or at least to mitigate its effects?

The Need for Change

This incident underscores the need for HMRC to review its procedures and implement safeguards to prevent such occurrences in the future. It is crucial for HMRC to remember that its actions and decisions have a far-reaching impact on businesses and individuals alike. A misplaced form should not have the power to bring a business to its knees.

In conclusion, HMRC must acknowledge its responsibility towards the entities it governs. A review of its systems and procedures is not just desirable, but necessary. After all, in the world of finance and accounting, even a small misstep can have a domino effect, leading to consequences far greater than the initial error.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Market leading tax fee protection insurance for businesses, sole traders and individuals. Protect yourself from accountancy fees in the event of an HMRC enquiry.

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Tax Investigation Insurance is an insurance policy that will fully reimburse your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees up to £100,000 if you are subject to enquiry by or dispute with HMRC.

A Solar Protect policy will enable your accountant (your tax return agent) to:

• Deal with any correspondence from HMRC
• Attend any meeting with HMRC
• Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal
• Having the security of knowing that fees will be met in full will enable your Accountant (your tax return agent) to defend your position robustly

Please click here for details.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Osita Mba (Ex HMRC) Summaries The AML Tax Ltd Case

AML Tax (UK) Limited, directed by Arthur Lancaster and part of Doug Barrowman’s Isle of Man based Knox Group, fined £150,000 after HMRC brought an Upper Tribunal case over its failure to comply with formal information notices as part of a tax investigation https://t.co/zLnhpr2hN1

— Osita Mba (@DrOsitaMba) March 18, 2022

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Market leading tax fee protection insurance for businesses, sole traders and individuals. Protect yourself from accountancy fees in the event of an HMRC enquiry.

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Tax Investigation Insurance is an insurance policy that will fully reimburse your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees up to £100,000 if you are subject to enquiry by or dispute with HMRC.

A Solar Protect policy will enable your accountant (your tax return agent) to:

• Deal with any correspondence from HMRC
• Attend any meeting with HMRC
• Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal
• Having the security of knowing that fees will be met in full will enable your Accountant (your tax return agent) to defend your position robustly

Please click here for details.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC AML Registration Glitches

Property Industry Eye reports that despite numerous problems that agents are experiencing in trying to re-register with HMRC for anti-money laundering, the April 1 deadline is fixed.

HMRC is not only holding to the deadline, but has said that agents who have not re-registered by midnight this Saturday will be de-registered, and will then be charged £100 as new applicants.

EYE has asked HMRC to re-consider, saying it is unfair.

Most agents have until April 1 to register, as this was the date that HMRC took over responsibility for AML in 2014.

However, almost all of the agents who contacted EYE say that they have already been trying to re-register for weeks on end, without success, and have no chance of meeting Sunday’s deadline.

Some have said that they have received emails from HMRC telling them they have messages relating to their AML supervision – but have been unable to access the messages, and can only assume they are about the need to re-register.

Others have been informed that it will take 40 or 45 days to confirm whether or not they are registered.

An HMRC spokesperson said: 

“We are aware that a number of customers have forgotten or lost their log-in details, and we are assisting them to reset these so that they can access their AMLS accounts.

Businesses due to renew their registration are sent up to three emails in the 30 days before their renewal date, reminding them that they need to renew.
Once a business has paid and submitted their renewal, they are treated as registered regardless of how long it takes HMRC to review their submission.

For customers whose renewal year runs from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 the online system will automatically cancel their registration if renewal hasn’t been made by midnight on 31 March. Once registration has been cancelled the business will need to reapply and pay a new application charge of £100 as well as their premises fees.”

I don't know, but it seems that HMRC haven't addressed the key issue, namely that agents can't seem to be able to register?

These are just some of the issues highlighted in emails to EYE:
* I am experiencing issues while trying to renew my registration. It all started last week when I partially completed the application. When I endeavoured to complete the process the following day their system would not allow me to ‘Continue’ as this link did nothing when trying to click it. Reported the problem online, received an automated reply and eventually another email with ‘ticket’ reference number and message stating an engineer will investigate.
* I have filled in all the required data and tried to re-register only to get message ‘membership being reviewed, allow 45 days for a reply’. Another reader was quoted 40 days.
* I keep getting emails that I have a message and to log in, but can’t log in as I haven’t got the my log-in details. I’m presuming the message is that I need to renew. (This specific problem was reported more than once.)
* The HMRC registration website is a complete joke, when you eventually do get through, it constantly rejects your payments or at least it appears to but you don’t know because it doesn’t acknowledge payments and of course you no longer get a registration document.
* I start the process but when I finish I am told that I have already registered under a different number. I am not told which number and the help email that follows offers insufficient assistance.
*We have 4 companies to register. 3 went through no problem but unable to do the 4th company as HMRC haven’t processed last year’s registration online and so won’t let me do this year’s. Have reported to HMRC who have promised to get back to me in the next 5 working days. I stipulated over the phone that this needs to be done by the 1st April.
* Having major problems trying to get into our AML account. We’ve tried retrieving the password, then trying to re-set the password, but no luck despite numerous attempts and phone calls to the HMRC helpline. After waiting ages, and being asked to make endless selections (press 1, 2, 3, 4 etc), we got through, but the HMRC helpline advisers don’t know where to direct our enquiries.
* Reader who is retiring from estate agency has been unable to access his account to de-register his business. Instead, he says he has been told to register again – which is of course absurd. However, as he has been warned that failure to re-register by the deadline means he will no longer be supervised by HMRC, he considers it “job done”.
* One agent, with a deadline different from April 1, was sent a letter saying he would be fined £1,000. This was after he spent two months trying to re-register. The agent has now managed to do this after the helpline gave him a new web-link: www.tax.service.gov.uk/anti-money-laundering

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"