HMRC & Companies House Scam Letters
Posted on 7th March 2025
Friday's Fortnightly Tax Tip
We have been made aware of a new Scam!
Some businesses have recently received a letter in the mail stating that it's from Companies House and that you have to pay a fee to published the company's legal information in the public database of Companies House Register
This is not something that Companies House do...
This scam, please see picture to the left, mostly try to target newly formed businesses who haven't the experience to know that this is a scam.
Additionally, if you look closely, you will see, as circled at the top of the letter, that this is not Companies House's logo!
The Official Companies House Logo is:
The Official HM Revenue & Customs Logo is:
As you will see, the logo on the letter is wrong. The letter pertains to be from Companies House, however, they are, in fact, using the HMRC logo.
It is therefore always worth checking that the letter you receive is using the Real Logo on their document!
To incorporate and register a private limited company with Companies House, you will incur a fee of £50.00, for an online registration and a fee of £71.00 , for a paper application. After this, there is an annual confirmation statement which will become due on the anniversary of incorproation, and this will include a small fee, currently £34 online, or £62 for a paper filing.
The scam letter we are showing to the left is asking for an additional fee to publish your company's legal information in the public database and this is not correct and not something Companies House do.
We have highlighted a couple of other parts of the letter, these show a very large fee to be charged, website address for payment, and also a "We accept" link for payment. This is not how Companies House usually work, and the link is not a real Companies House webpage!
Above, is another Companies House scam letter. As you can see this one is far more convincing than the previous letter, and it looks more official and in keeping with Companies House letters. However, this letter is also a SCAM letter.
Companies House do not charge for "Enhanced Web Filing Access".
Companies House has confirmed that these letters are scams and advises recipients not to follow any instructions!
This supposed HMRC letter is another SCAM Letter.
HMRC does not send these kind of letters out!
If you receive one of these letters do not send any information.
As you can see in this image, the letter is requesting a huge amount of personal information which may then enable the scammer to steal your identity or take out loans in your business name!
This is not an official HMRC letter and HMRC should never ask you for this type of information in this way!
If you receeive a letter claiming to be from HMRC or Companies House please ask your accountant to check that it is a legitimate letter.
Never send any money until you are sure and have double checked with your accountant.
Please give us a call on 01908 315716 or contact us here if you think you may have recived a scam letter and we will be happy to help you and advise.
The tax tip is provided for general guidance only; further advice should be sought, for specific issues.
Share this post: