HMRC issued over £1.6M in fines to Estate Agents

HMRC has announced (28 March 2024) that 254 estate agency businesses have been fined a total of over £1.6m for failing to register, or re-register with them for Anti Money Laundering (AML).  The fines range from £1,500 to over £50,000.

HMRC have published a follow up list outlining where estate agents have received financial penalties for breaches of the legislation.  These will include an absence of firm-wide documentation, incomplete or incorrect Customer Due Diligence (CDD) within the required timeframe and a lack of recognition of specific risks such as the value of property, High Risk Jurisdictions, Politically Exposed Persons (PEP’s), Companies, Trusts and Sanctions.