Tag: MUCs - Tax Policy Associates

Posts tagged "MUCs"

Feb 13, 2025 Analysis

How criminals use “muppets” to commit corporate fraud – and how to stop them

Many fraudulent companies at Companies House are run by entirely fake directors – non-existent people with fabricated identities. But many others are fronted by “muppet” directors: real individuals, often recruited through Facebook, who lend their names to companies they don’t actually control. The true masterminds behind the fraud remain in the shadows. From next month, […]

Jul 7, 2023 Investigations

How Donna from Facebook became part of a £1bn tax fraud (part 4 of our series).

Many “tax avoidance schemes” are in fact just tax fraud. We’ve been investigating “mini-umbrella company” (MUC) schemes, where a recruitment business is split between thousands of companies, with Filipino individuals hired as shareholders/directors to hinder HMRC counteraction. Each company then fraudulently claims to be an independent small company, and claims small company tax incentives. Part […]

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Press release
11-year ban for payroll boss in tax
avoidance scheme

Leicester payroll services boss banned for orchestrating
multi-million pound tax avoidance scheme, while failing to
justify £37 million expenditure in 11 months

From: The Insolvency Service
Published 10 June 2021

Jul 6, 2023 Investigations

The other KC opinion behind the outrageous £50m tax scheme (part 3 of a series)

Our report on Monday revealed the scheme: it used 10,000 UK companies, supposedly owned by 10,000 Philippine individuals, to claim at least £50m in tax incentives. A central player admits the scheme was fraudulent. On Wednesday we published the Giles Goodfellow QC opinion that approved the scheme, and explained why we regarded the opinion as […]

Jul 4, 2023 Investigations

The outrageous £50m tax scheme that was KC-approved. Part 2: The Opinion.

Our report yesterday revealed the scheme: it used 10,000 UK companies, supposedly owned by 10,000 Philippine individuals, to claim at least £50m in tax incentives. A central player admits the scheme was fraudulent. Today we identify the KC who gave the scheme the green light, publish his opinion, and explain why we regard it as […]

Once you become a director of a UK company,
and see how easy it is,

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Jul 3, 2023 Investigations

The outrageous £50m tax scheme that was KC-approved. Part 1: The Scheme.

Many “tax avoidance schemes” are in fact just tax fraud. We have been investigating one in detail, involving a company splitting its business between 10,000 companies, and using social media to hire 10,000 Filipino individuals who it can pretend are the shareholders/directors. The scheme was facilitated by an opinion from a well-known tax KC, Giles […]