Last week we launched a free webapp that shows the tens of thousands of UK companies whose ownership is being hidden, in most cases unlawfully.

It's now easier to use, faster, and has way more features. Quick thread. You can jump to the app and instructions here: taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/03/19/500…

Excellent and detailed FT piece this week on the £100,000 "childcare trap".

If someone earns £99,999 and claims the Governments childcare subsidies, then a £1 pay rise can *cost them* £20,000. They don't get back to where they were until their gross wages reach £145k.

So in this situation it's not rational for someone just under £100k to accept a pay rise/promotion, work more hours, take on more clients etc, unless it puts them well clear of £100k

Millions of pounds now rest on whether large marshmallows are "normally eaten with the fingers". Thread. Historical accident means that food is 0% VAT, unless it's confectionary (20%), unless it's cake (0%), unless it's hot (20%).

So a millionaire's shortbread (cake) has less VAT than a chocolate biscuit (confectionary). This is, obviously, madness.

On Wednesday we published an interactive map showing the tens of thousands of UK companies hiding their beneficial owner. It's now updated - with filters and search functions.

In this thread I use it to uncover a truly shocking and unexpected case of hidden ownership. If you want to jump straight to the interactive map, it's here, together with a short article on the background: taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/03/19/650…

Mone and Barrowman lied. They told an enormous fib - that they didn't own PPE Medpro - and then sent lawyers to threaten journalists who were exposing the fib.

I've no idea why they think anyone will believe this new statement. PPE Medpro was contracted to supply £200m of PPE to the Government. Barrowman/Mone sent a lawyer to threaten libel proceedings against anyone reporting they owned the company. Which was the truth.

To his credit, the lawyer apologised.

Two surprising entrants on HMRC's list of "deliberate tax defaulters" - people who deliberately didn't pay tax they knew was due (not because they couldn't afford it; because they just didn't want to pay it). Hasan Nawaz Sharif is the son of the former Pakistani prime minister. He failed to pay £9m.

This has been reported in the Pakistani press but not yet in the UK: tribune.com.pk/story/2535249/…

65,000 UK companies are unlawfully hiding their beneficial owner. We've just published an interactive map showing them all.

Thread: If you want to jump straight to the interactive map, it's here, together with a short article on the background: taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/03/19/650…

So what was the tax scheme that bankrupted Frankie Dettori, and who is the unnamed adviser who sold it to him?

And why should we feel (slightly) sorry for Dettori?

Quick thread. The scheme was pretty extraordinary: Dettori made large "tax-deductible" payments to a trust from 2012 to 2017. Then the trust made large "non-taxable" payments back to him.

(My source for this is court documents which unfortunately I can't share)

New report in The Times: football clubs have been claiming £millions of tax back using a tax relief intended to boost science and technology.

It's a relief that has been widely abused - wrong and fraudulent claims probably cost us all £10bn in lost tax. So were the football clubs really entitled to it? Here are the conditions for R&D tax relief. It has to be an advance in science or technology. gov.uk/guidance/corpo…

Here's why Trump's "VAT is a tariff" claim is beyond stupid. But also why America's *lack* of VAT puts it at an unfair disadvantage. A tariff is a tax on imported goods that doesn't apply to domestic goods. So, for example, most US cars imported into the UK have a 10% tariff. .

Cars made in the UK don't face a tariff, even if made by a US-owned business.

Tariffs *are* discriminatory. That's the point.

A wave of ‘muppet’ directors is coming - ordinary people hired off Facebook to front fraudulent companies, while the real masterminds behind the frauds stay hidden.

It’s already a problem, but it’s about to explode. Here’s why - and how we stop it. 🧵 Meet Donna:

Hundreds of innocent postmasters were prosecuted for false accounting. It's a serious crime.

So what happens to a company's directors when they're caught forging, not one line, but whole of their accounts? And the High Court has said the accounts were forged? This is Shree Investment plc. Its 2016 accounts weren't hugely suspicious, although the numbers look a bit round:

We reported over the weekend on a network of fake companies that tried to steal a Ukrainian gold mine. Some of the trails lead to the KGB and apocalypse cults, and that's way beyond our little think tank.

Here's a list for any journalists/OSINT people wanting to pick it up: First level of difficulty. Why were all these companies created? We know the 2019 companies were created (at the red line) to seize the gold mine. But what happened in 2012 and 2016 (the green lines)?

(interactive version of the chart: ) taxpolicy.org.uk/wp-content/ass…

Our new report: the world's most convincing fake company - and how it tried to seize a gold mine in Ukraine

That leads to 60 fake companies, £300bn of fake gold & even a fake country. With backing from the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, Nadhim Zahawi and Baroness Mone. All fake. This will be a long thread. But if you want something more convenient, longer, or you just love footnotes, our full report is here: taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/02/08/who…

Our latest update: mistakes by Companies House and the Financial Conduct Authority resulted in fraudsters obtaining FCA authorisation. A thread: In 2017, the fraudsters applied for FCA registration for a company called Stallion Financial Investments plc. Here's its balance sheet, showing £12m of assets.

There are companies worth £50bn* based in this terraced house in Bolton.

Turns out they also have a bank. With a valid VAT registration number.

(*on paper)
And a holding company, with a professional-looking website:

What's better than a mystery? A free app.

I have both this morning.

I'll link to the app in the next tweet. It lets you identify suspicious companies on Companies House, searching either by their business category or their address.

The mystery follows after that. Here's the app link - should work nicely on mobile, and on iPhone if you "save to desktop" it will behave like an app. taxpolicy.org.uk/wp-content/ass…

Fraudsters are setting up fake banks on Companies House - here's how we found 16 in three minutes... using an automated tool we've just made freely available.

Thread: There's a longer version of this thread here, with details of the fake banks we found, and how to download/use the tool. taxpolicy.org.uk/finding_fake_b…

The world's biggest company isn’t Apple or Amazon—it’s a UK firm called Novateur, with £100 trillion in assets.

Incredible? Yes.
True? Kind of.
Real? Not remotely.

It's a blatant fraud. Here’s how Companies House missed it - and how they could stop these frauds for good. We published a report on Saturday on Avis Capital Limited. It claims to be a "bank" and to have £58bn of net assets and 150,000 employees. But none of that is true; it filed fake accounts as part of what we believe was an international fraud. taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/01/25/the…

This is the HQ of Avis Capital. It claims to be one of the largest companies in the UK, with £58bn in assets and 31% returns promised to investors.

Except it's all a lie.

Here's how regulatory failures are letting international fraudsters create massive fake UK companies. Our new report is here:

Thread: taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/01/25/the…

Douglas Barrowman sold a possibly criminal, tax avoidance scheme using an Isle of Man company called Principal Contracts Ltd. The Isle of Man authorities say it failed to file accounts, paid unlawful dividends, & failed to pay £5m of Isle of Man VAT.

Guess what happened next? PCL sold tax avoidance schemes which replaced normal taxable employment income with supposedly non-taxable loans.

The schemes never worked, but HMRC failed to challenge them in the usual way. In a panic, the Government introduced a "loan charge" to tax the loans.