Tax Devil

[v8gaz]

Oh jeez, I've just been followed on Twitter by @taxdevilpayroll ...

Me too. I'm just waiting for an appropriate time to comment on twitter on these schemes.

[DaveB]

Just received this from them:

From: "andrei.shelton" <andrei.shelton>
Subject: Contractor Tax News
Date: 3 June 2014 12:01:07 BST
To: DaveB
Reply-To: andrei.shelton

I thought that maybe as a Contractor you would be interested in this.

Tax Devil is a tried and trusted UK-based payroll solutions provider that has been helping its customers for over 14 years.

Our you tube video explains in just a few minutes how we help you take home more of your pay, safely and securely:

Play Video

Our solutions have been running for over 14 years and are fully compliant with existing and proposed legislation. Our retention rates can help you to increase your take-home pay significantly over either PAYE or standard Umbrella.

We are extremely competitive compared with the more exotic offshore providers; but with a degree of safety they cannot match. We are based solely on the UK mainland and your funds remain onshore. We understand that as well as a great retention rate, safety, security and service are top of your priorities, and we excel in all three.

To take home more of your pay, safely and securely, request an illustration now, or give us a call on 0203 131 8984

Kind regards,

Hannah Wilson
Tax Devil.co.uk
amy@domainname
0203 131 8984

Still no company details in the email, claims to have been going for 14 years but apparently can't give consistent contact details. Sent from one name, signed in another with an email address for a third.

This mail claims they have been going for 14 years, I found another claiming 25 years.


Edit: Did a quick trawl back through my emails to try and track down whether I really was registered with contractjobs.com and came across another email with an address of info@contractjobs.com from "Hannah" at Contractor Pay Ltd.

No real time to dig now, but it looks like there is a connection between Contractor Pay Ltd and Tax Devil.

Interestingly, according to Companies House, Contractor Pay Ltd was dissolved in 2010.

the Domain Name for contractor-pay.co.uk is registered to :

Domain name:
contractor-pay.co.uk

Registrant:
iain nicholson

Registrant type:
Unknown

Registrant's address:
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Canterbury
Kent
CT1 xxx
United Kingdom

Iain appears to be this chap who describes himself as an IT Contractor and lists "High Profile tax planners" among his clients.

All the emails I've had connected to Tax Devil (3 in total, I checked the spam folder and found another one) have featured contractjobs.co.uk as the source domain for the email, one from info@ and two from Andrei Shelton.

According to their info page Contractjobs.com is owned and operated by 888 Recruitment.

Andrei is listed as a Director of 888 Recruitment Ltd alongside Darren Browne and his wife Sonia. Darren is also director of one of the largest privately held recruitment organisations in the country - Networkers Group Holdings Plc.

Still nothing conclusive about Tax Devil, but some connections do seem to be appearing.

***Admin note 2014.10.10 - I have removed the email addresses from the top email only and have seen the email in its original form so do not doubt the validity of the message.***

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Name & Registered Office:
TAX DEVIL LIMITED
FIRST FLOOR
124 - 126 WARDOUR STREET
LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM
W1F 0TY
Company No. 09065612




Status: Active
Date of Incorporation: 02/06/2014

[DaveB]

Name & Registered Office:
TAX DEVIL LIMITED
FIRST FLOOR
124 - 126 WARDOUR STREET
LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM
W1F 0TY
Company No. 09065612




Status: Active
Date of Incorporation: 02/06/2014

Which would explain why there was no record of them previously, and really puts the lie to their claims to have been in business for 14 or 25 years.

No director details available yet from the usual sources, probably due to delays in updating companies house records. I think I can probably guess at least two of the names we'll see when they are available.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Which would explain why there was no record of them previously, and really puts the lie to their claims to have been in business for 14 or 25 years.

They may have been in business for 14 years but not under this name - have tried to get info on directors but DueDil hasn't even registered them yet

[DaveB]

What gets me is that if they are, as it appears, part of the Networking Group, then why didn't they leverage that to back up their claims. People would be far more likely to trust them as part of a big name company with money in the bank and a proven track record than if they just appear over night and spam people with the usual OTT retention claims.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

What gets me is that if they are, as it appears, part of the Networking Group, then why didn't they leverage that to back up their claims. People would be far more likely to trust them as part of a big name company with money in the bank and a proven track record than if they just appear over night and spam people with the usual OTT retention claims.

Aren't the Networking Group recruiters

[DaveB]

Aren't the Networking Group recruiters

Yes they are. Contractor Jobs is the company that has been spamming people with Tax Devil emails. They are owned by 888 Recruitment, who have Darren Browne and his wife as directors. Darren is MD of the Networking Group which is a multimillion pound operation owning a wide range of recruitment related businesses, all of which he is a director of.

The point I was trying to make is that spinning up a "Tax Efficient" payroll operation, which is how Tax Devil is being promoted, would be a logical extension of that business and more likely to inspire confidence than one that appears to have sprung, fully formed, out of nothing, overnight and makes the same retention claims as the rest of them.

Unless of course they know the whole premise is dodgy in the current climate and don't want to make that association.

The director details will help confirm the connection on e they are available.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Yes they are. Contractor Jobs is the company that has been spamming people with Tax Devil emails. They are owned by 888 Recruitment, who have Darren Browne and his wife as directors. Darren is MD of the Networking Group which is a multimillion pound operation owning a wide range of recruitment related businesses, all of which he is a director of.

The point I was trying to make is that spinning up a "Tax Efficient" payroll operation, which is how Tax Devil is being promoted, would be a logical extension of that business and more likely to inspire confidence than one that appears to have sprung, fully formed, out of nothing, overnight and makes the same retention claims as the rest of them.

Unless of course they know the whole premise is dodgy in the current climate and don't want to make that association.

The director details will help confirm the connection on e they are available.

This perhaps

[TheFaQQer]

Hannah has also recommended Vanilla Umbrella to me this week.

Their website doesn't render properly on Chrome on Linux, and there's no company details on there to be able to look much further.

Their address is the same 8 Vernon Place, Canterbury, Kent CT1 3HG as some of the others, though.