ECSH26000 - Economic Crime Levy
The Economic Crime levy is a levy charged on businesses regulated for anti-money laundering purposes under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulation 2017 that are medium, large or very large in size based on their UK revenue.
The Economic Crime Levy was introduced as part of the government’s wider objective, contained in both the 2019 Economic Crime Plan (ECP) and the more recent Economic Crime Plan 2 (ECP2), to put in place long-term sustainable funding to tackle economic crime.
The levy is paid as a fixed fee based on the size band an AML-regulated entity falls into based on their UK revenue.
There are four size bands:
- small (under £10.2m UK revenue)
- medium (£10.2m – £36m)
- large (£36m - £1bn)
- very large (over £1bn)
The amount to be paid is set by HMT and determined by the band the business falls under.
The Economic Crime Levy is payable by the 30 September each year. CSTD (Customer Strategy & Tax Design) administers collection of the levy for HMRC-supervised businesses and those supervised by the 22 legal and accountancy Professional Body Supervisors. ECS is not involved in.
Economic Crime Levy Operational Guidance
Some businesses supervised by ECS pay the Economic Crime Levy.
You may find that this is applicable to your case, you may see a charge on the accounts or alternatively the business may mention this or ask you about it. This may also be indicated on the SIP. This is not something Economic Crime Supervision teams deal with, however as a representative of HMRC, you should be aware of the general principles and workings of the ECL, as set out above and familiarise yourself with the published information and direct businesses to GOV.UK if they want to find out more about this.
Further guidance on the Economic Crime Levy is available here