Unlawful estate agency businesses

The Money Laundering Regulations (MLR) are designed to protect the UK financial system and put in place certain controls to prevent businesses being used for money laundering by criminals and terrorists.

HMRC has named 68 estate agents that have been fined a total of £519,645 for not complying with rules designed to stop criminals laundering money from illegal activity.

Tax evasion is a criminal offence that can lead to money laundering, for example, the sale price of a property may be set below the Stamp Duty threshold by manipulating the price of furniture and fittings. Tax may also be evaded by hiding behind complex legal structures. 

HMRC’s guidance says that money laundering can take many forms, but in the property sector it often involves:

  • buying a property asset using the proceeds of crime and selling it on, giving the criminal an apparently legitimate source of funds
  • criminals may also hide behind complex company structures and multiple accounts to disguise the real purpose of a transaction and hide its beneficial ownership
  • a more direct method may involve paying an estate agent or auctioneer a big deposit and reclaiming it later
  • the money for a purchase may be the result of mortgage fraud.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs Tue, 18 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0100

More Posts

Breaking even – checking the numbers

In previous newsfeeds we have described how you can calculate the level of turnover you need to create in order to meet all your costs whether they be fixed costs (rent, rates etc.,) or variable costs (goods you need to buy to convert into goods you sell).

For example, if your fixed costs are £50,000 per annum and your variable costs are 25% of your turnover, the annual turnover you need to breakeven will be £200,000. The formula is:

Annual fixed costs divided by 25 (the gross profit)

Bereavement Support Payment

The amount of Bereavement Support Payment you can claim will depend on your relationship to the person who died and when you make your claim.

Your payments will be paid into your bank, building society or credit union account.

If you were married or in a registered civil partnership with the person who died

If you were receiving Child Benefit when your partner died (or did not get it but were entitled to it), you will get the higher rate.

This is made up of:

a first payment of £3,500;

Tax codes for employees

The P9X form is used to notify employers of the tax codes to use for employees. The latest version of the form has been published and shows the tax codes to use from 6 April 2023. The form states that the basic personal allowance for the tax year starting 6 April 2023 will, as expected, be £12,570 (£12,570 in 2022-23) and this means that the tax code for emergency use will remain at 1257L.

The basic rate limit will be £37,700 (£37,700 in 2022-23) except for those defined as Scottish taxpayers

Properties not let at commercial rates

There are special rules where a property is let at less than a commercial rate or isn’t let on commercial terms. These rules also apply if a property is occupied rent free or at less than a commercial rate, for example, a property is occupied by a family member at a reduced or nil rent.

In these circumstances, HMRC can take the view that unless the landlord charges a full market rent for a property and imposes normal market lease conditions, it is unlikely that the expenses of the property are

Send Us A Message