If In Doubt, Don’t! Don’t Get Caught In A Scam!
810,316 new companies registered last year and, because the details of a registration are in the public domain at Companies House, new business owners get a variety of communications, some are a bona fide and others are dubious at best, or a scam at worst.
One of our clients received a very official ‘Company Registry’ letter advising that an account needed to be claimed to secure the company records. The fee was a modest annual fee of £47, rising to £115 the following year. It all looked very official complete with a complex reference and the language implies that this is a requirement rather than a request. However, this is a commercial enterprise that is basically offering an optional (and, in our opinion, unnecessary) service.
If even 1% of that 800K+ new businesses click, that’s a nice little earner!
You may get a letter from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and, if you hold any data of clients you do need to pay the fee, currently £45 a year.
HMRC Letters and Communications
On the other hand there are the scams. The latest is a worryingly accurate, very authentic looking HMRC letters. This arrives in the post, as virtually all HMRC communications do, referencing ‘a recent government initiative aimed at verifying declared income’. The letter goes on to ask for a lot of information, including business bank statements, the most recent set of filed accounts – in detail, business VAT returns and passport/driving licence ID. Quite apart from the fact that they should already have some of this, the scam is asking you to give them everything they need to carry out identity fraud.
There are still plenty of other scams, bank frauds are still happening and with the run up to the end of the tax year in January when everyone is thinking about tax, don’t be surprised to get notifications by text or email of a refund from HMRC. HMRC generally won’t text or call unless there’s an ongoing investigation, so double check before you click or reply.
If you have an accountant, they can act on your behalf as your tax agents, which provides a level of protection, as they not only usually know about the current scams, but also know how to check how valid any requests might be.
So, if you’ve had an official looking letter, get your accountant on the case. We can help you make the right decisions if you are in doubt, get in touch with our expert team if you’re looking for accountants in Hertfordshire that will be sure to assist you!
