The FCA has banned London IFA and mortgage adviser Anthony George from performing any regulated activity after he deliberately submitted false information about his income on his tax returns to HMRC.

He failed to declare income from two cash businesses, a hair salon and a DJ business, and also also used his false lower income to claim working tax credits.

Mr George was the director, owner and sole approved person of 4Life Financial Planning Limited (4Life), a financial advisory firm and mortgage intermediary based in London.

The FCA said the ban was being imposed because he was, “not a fit and proper person as his conduct demonstrates a lack of honesty and integrity.”

An FCA investigation found that between 14 January 2015 and 15 May 2019, Mr George deliberately submitted false information to HMRC by understating the income in his self assessment tax returns over a 5-year period. 

He then further demonstrated a lack of honesty and integrity, the FCA said, when he concealed this from the FCA, providing the watchdog with information which he knew to be false during a compelled interview.

During the period under investigation Mr George also failed to inform the accountancy firms which prepared and submitted his tax returns that he had additional income other than that received from 4Life. This included the takings from two cash-in-hand businesses – a hair salon and a DJ business.

He also had rental income which he received from letting out a room in his house. 

Mr George appointed a separate accountancy firm to prepare an alternative version of his tax returns which included all of his sources of income for the tax years 2013/2014 to 2015/2016. 

Mr George submitted the lower income tax returns to HMRC resulting in a lower income tax bill and and also used the higher income tax returns for a personal mortgage application.

Mr George’s total income, as stated in his mortgage application, was some £367,757 greater than the income he had declared to HMRC over the same 3-year period.

Mr George also used the income figures from the lower income tax returns to claim working tax credits, the FCA found.