Finance Act AML Levy

HM Revenue & Customs are introducing a new charge payable by businesses (regulated for anti-money laundering purposes) such as estate agents and certain letting agents who are making substantial revenues in the UK (more than £10.2million) during a 12-month accounting period.

This levy is being introduced to assist with enforcing anti-money laundering regulations and to tackle economic crime.

Whilst many may not be liable to pay the levy (due to the amount of their revenue), it is useful to know what changes are coming in and to see that the government are focusing on this issue.

For the purposes of this legislation, regulated businesses are split into four categories:

• Small (under £10.2m UK revenue), there is no charge;
• Medium (more than £10.2m UK revenue for the relevant accounting period but not more than £36m), the charge is £10,000;
• Large (more than £36m UK revenue for the relevant accounting period but not more than £1bn), the charge is £36,000; and
• Very Large (more than £1bn UK revenue), the charge is £250,000.

The levy will be a yearly charge payable from the 01 April 2023 and will be based on the UK revenue made during 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. For agents liable to pay this levy, the payment will be charged and collected by HM Revenue & Customs.

The Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy Regulations 2022 comes into force 01 April 2022 and sets out details regarding the assessment, payment, collection and recovery of the levy.