Business areas

What business area does my business fall into?

From 15 December 2007, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) supervises four business areas or sectors:

  • Money Service Businesses or MSBs
  • High Value Dealers or HVDs
  • Trust or company service providers or TCSPs
  • Accountancy Service Providers or ASPs

You may already know what sector your business is relevant to. If so, you may wish to check the links above to look at pages for each sector.

If you are not sure if your business will be affected by the regulations we have provided some examples of the types of businesses in each sector. However, if you are not listed you should still check our Guide to Registration MLR 9 (PDF 204K) to see if you need to register.

Money Service Businesses or MSBs

These are bureaux de change, money transmitters and third party cheque cashers.

High Value Dealers or HVDs

These are businesses that deal in goods and accept (or are prepared to accept) in cash the equivalent of €15,000 or more for any single transaction or in several operations that appear to be linked. For an indication of the £ sterling equivalent of 15,000 euros we recommend you check our Rates of Exchange for Customs and Vat purposes and divide 15,000 by the Euro figure stated.

Businesses that could be a high value dealer include:

  • Jewellers
  • Auctioneers
  • Automotive dealers
  • Antique dealers
  • Retailers etc.

Trust or Company Service Providers or TCSPs

You will need to register with HMRC if your business is not supervised by the FSA or a designated professional body (such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales or the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers) for these services. You can find a list of bodies in our Guide to Registration MLR 9 (PDF 204K). appendix 2.

Businesses that could be TCSPs include:

  • company formation agents
  • providers of registered offices, business addresses, accommodation or correspondence addresses for businesses other than sole proprietors
  • recruitment agencies and interim management agencies, involved in arranging for the appointment of directors, shadow directors or company secretaries
  • self employed directors, shadow directors or company secretaries
  • personal service companies of people acting as directors, shadow directors or company secretaries
  • will writers, family offices and other businesses when they act or arrange for others to act as professional trustees
  • accountants, auditors, tax advisers, book-keepers, payroll agents and tax consultants, when they provide any of the services listed above

We recommend that you also check our more detailed guidance before you decide to register.

Accountancy Service Providers or ASPs

You will need to register with HMRC if your business is not supervised by a designated professional body (such as the institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales or the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers). You can find a list of bodies in our Guide to Registration MLR 9 (PDF 204K). appendix 2.

Businesses that could be ASPs include:

  • Accountants
  • Auditors
  • Tax advisers
  • Book-keepers
  • Payroll agents
  • Tax consultants