Another levy? Ministers consult

In its 2020 Budget, the UK Government announced its intention to introduce an economic crime levy, aimed at raising approximately £100 million per year from entities regulated for anti-money laundering (AML) purposes. These funds would be used to resource a sustainable programme to tackle economic crime.

The UK Government is currently running a consultation on the levy (gov.uk/government/consultations/economic-crime-levy-consultation), seeking views on what the levy will pay for, how it should be calculated and distributed across the AML regulated sector and how it should be collected.

It lays out a number of options as to how the levy might be applied, with minimum revenue being the suggested qualifying criterion. Depending on the figure applied, particular strata of Scottish legal firms may be exempt. The Society will be submitting a response. Members with an interest in the proposals can submit their own responses by the 13 October deadline.