New ways of working, new fraud

Remote work brought new ways of carrying out illegal operations. Find out one of the most common when hiring an EOR

Surely you have heard of mini umbrella company fraud, but do you know what it is?

What is a mini umbrella company fraud?

It is one of the fraud primarily on HMRC, the UK’s tax, payments and customs authority, wrongly exploiting certain VAT employment allowance schemes intended for smaller businesses.

It again has a broader spread of victims than just HMRC: the end individual workers are sold short on contributions not being made, and small businesses who follow the rules are not competing on a level playing field.

There is no “standard” mini umbrella company fraud model. The structure is constantly evolving as organised criminals try to conceal their fraudulent activities from HMRC.

In short: it involves multiple limited companies being created that employ a small number of temporary workers. These companies are primarily set up to enable fraud. The structure of mini umbrella companies is facilitated by a promoter business (or an outsourcing business – the “umbrella”) and they may have other linked businesses to support the operation.

The impact

Mini umbrella company fraud creates issues for employment agencies and businesses that follow the rules.

avoid fraud

Do you want to make sure you avoid this type of fraud when hiring your employees?  Contact uswe are aware of the risks and comply with all the requirements!