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Crime

Pressure Selling Tactics Ruled To Be Illegal

Emma Sleep taken to court for failing to address the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) concerns. A High Court order has confirmed that Emma Sleep, a mattress seller, behaved illegally and broke consumer law by using misleading countdown timers, false ‘high demand’ messages and ‘discount claims’. Concerns were raised about Emma Sleep in 2022 over […]

Read more August 20th, 2026

Companies House And The IPO Warn About Fake Payment Requests

Companies House and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) are asking businesses to take special care of misleading requests for payment sent by fraudulent organisations. Invoices are being sent to companies that request payment for Companies House and IPO services. They may be posted to a company’s registered office address or sent by email. The invoices […]

Read more June 1st, 2026

Dealing With HMRC

Late filing penalties for corporation tax returns are set to be doubled for returns where the filing date is on or after 1 April 2026. Filing a corporation tax return late will now result in a £200 penalty, which will increase to £400 if the return is more than 3 months late. Where the deadline […]

Read more December 11th, 2025

Identity Verification Coming To Companies House

As part of the changes being gradually introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCT), identity verification is set to become a Companies House requirement. This is one of several changes that the Act is making to better protect the data held at Companies House. Who will be affected by identity verification? Identity […]

Read more April 8th, 2025

HMRC Scam Warning

With the 31 January self-assessment deadline fast approaching, HMRC has warned taxpayers to be alert to fraudsters. In the past year, there has been a 16.7% increase in scam referrals to HMRC, with almost 150,000 received in the year to November 2024. A significant proportion of those referrals were fake tax rebate claims. HMRC say […]

Read more January 10th, 2025

Be Wary Of Self Assessment Scams

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have issued a reminder to be careful about scam attempts that target people filing Self Assessment tax returns. In the last year, nearly 150,000 scam attempts were referred to HMRC, a 16.7% increase on last year. With the 31 January 2025 filing deadline approaching, fraudsters are likely to step up […]

Read more December 10th, 2024

CMA Issues Warning To Unregulated Legal Service Providers

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is stepping up its efforts to protect consumers opting for unregulated legal services, such as will writing and divorce arrangements, which are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to traditional high street solicitors. As the use of these services grows, the CMA is acting to ensure that businesses offering them comply […]

Read more October 22nd, 2024

Insolvency Service Continues To Tackle Covid Loan Abuse

The recently released Insolvency Service’s 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts provides some interesting information on how the Service is doing in tackling Covid loan abuse. The report identifies that 831 directors have been disqualified for abusing Covid loans. 22 criminal prosecutions have been carried out, and efforts have been made towards recovering nearly £3 million […]

Read more August 19th, 2024

Digital Markets, Competition And Consumers Act Becomes Law

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act has now received Royal Assent and become law in the UK. This new legislation aims to protect consumers and promote fair competition, particularly targeting large technology companies. Here’s a summary of the key points of the Act: Consumer Protection: Empowering Regulators: Penalties: Additional Oversight: In essence, this Act […]

Read more June 17th, 2024

Dealing With A Cyber-Attack

Most businesses have exposure to cyber risk. Almost every modern business relies on computer networks for day-to-day operations, and this means that most firms are exposed to cyber risk. A cyber-attack is any attempt to steal data, damage or disrupt a computer system. In the event of a cyber-attack, it’s important to manage the incident […]

Read more June 10th, 2024

New Fining Guidance By The ICO

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has released some new data protection fining guidance showing how it decides to issue penalties and calculate fines. A consultation on the guidance took place last year and the new guidance provides greater transparency on how the ICO uses its power to fine. The sections about penalty notices in the […]

Read more March 21st, 2024

New Laws On Fake Reviews, Hidden Fees & Shop Labelling

The Department for Business and Trade are making changes that will ban dripped fees, make fake reviews illegal, and make sure that price labelling on supermarket shelves is clearer. These measures are part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill that is currently progressing through Parliament. Dripped pricing refers to when an initial price […]

Read more February 21st, 2024

Enhancing Waste Sector Compliance: New Economic Crime Unit

In recent developments aimed at strengthening regulatory oversight in the waste sector, the Environment Agency has launched a new Economic Crime Unit dedicated to combating financial crimes. This initiative comes as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to address the pervasive issue of waste crime. Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency said that waste […]

Read more February 20th, 2024

Updates To UK Company Law

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act received royal assent on 26 October 2023 and will introduce a number of changes over the next few years. The act gives Companies House the power to play a more significant role in tackling economic crime and supporting economic growth. Over time, the measures will lead to improved […]

Read more December 8th, 2023

HMRC Challenges LLP Scheme For Property Businesses

HMRC have recently published Spotlight 63 which alerts taxpayers to a marketed tax avoidance scheme that claims to help taxpayers reduce the tax payable on their property rental profits. The HMRC view is that the “hybrid” structure involving an LLP with individual and corporate members does not have the tax savings that the scheme promoters […]

Read more November 27th, 2023