The ICO: why do I have a letter from the Information Commissioner's Office?

This is a video from my Patreon channel that, when I was watching it back, I thought could be useful as a standalone piece of advice. This is something that everyone running a business needs to know, and doubly so if you've received a letter from the ICO - the Information Commissioner's Office - asking you for money.
If this is the way you like to be taught about the accounting and tax and (in this case) general government bureaucracy of running your business then come join us over at the The Accounting Tea Break Library on Patreon:
/ copperlibrary
It's £10 a month, it's full of all the tax and accounting stuff you wish you knew when you started your own business and it will save you some combination of time, money and stress.
Link to the ICO's questionnaire to see if you need to pay:
ico.org.uk/for...
And here's the page on their site that explains the exemptions:
ico.org.uk/for...
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.
Thanks for watching!
www.thecopperc...
If we haven't met yet, then hi, I'm Benedict, I'm a Chartered Accountant. This channel is my place to give tips and advice to freelancers, small business owners, start ups, entrepreneurs... anyone who might need a bit of guidance from an accountant in the UK.
My accounting firm is called The Copper Coins; head over to my website if you need more help than a KZbin video can provide.
DISCLAIMER TIME: Are you my client? No? You don't have an engagement letter from me with my signature on it? Well then I guess you're not my client, not right now at least. So, of course, I have to warn you that this is just general information, just me talking about my experience with accounting, and that my company and I can't be held responsible for what you do with this information. I make these purely to be helpful, but I may have made a mistake, or brushed over some subtleties of the law, or you might be in a situation that means this information is wrong for you. If you want personal accounting advice, go find an accountant and talk to them and maybe hire them. I might be taking on new clients if you want to get in touch. Thanks.

[@RossHbn]

I definitely agree it looks like a scam letter when it comes through. Believe you also have to pay if you have video recording in a commercial vehicle or premises.

[@AccountingTeaBreak]

Thanks, great tip, let me pin that to the top of the comments here.

[@247wes]

Thank you for the information. Much appreciated.

[@goldman8531]

so if I am a seller and I have information about people, address, email number and I send the supplier to send them the product, I do all that for my company, I don't need to pay, that's okay?

[@bettykermen1815]

thank you

[@esco.letsgo]

Hi there, what about a company that is set up solely for collecting musical royalties from streaming platforms (e.g Spotify, Apple Music) from preforming rights organisations (*other businesses)? You sign up to these PRO’s and they pay you quarterly for your music for example, it’s just set up as a ltd in order to pay tax. Also, you don’t have any staff members and your address on companies house is a paid registered office address because your business doesn’t have nor require a physical location. Do you have to pay?

[@laszlotodoran9392]

Informative and easy to understand, well done!

[@franciscorochellegonzalez4809]

Thank to God I got to watch your video, I'm in the process of of opening a business, I will handle just what you said, names, DBO, address of course what they pay, does a home nursery need to pay?

[@Svolo]

I am paying for that but I don't understand why? How they help people whom data i keep in my database on QuickBooks and my dashcam in my van. The same with Air clear Zone. They charge you but what they do with that money?

[@HornseywoodArchive]

Good video.... How about if your company is a dormant company and has been since the day it started ?? and not going to trade?

[@emmanuelesoko2593]

Thank you for the video. Straight to the point. Nice one bro.

[@vallitaCost]

Whether the payment comes from us or from the the government to the ICO, we are still the ones ultimately paying. It's always our money.

[@aes249]

I created an UK LTD company in juine and just got a letter from ico. ( I have been doing dropshipping started 3 stores but not profitable " I target USA not UK means I didn't have any sale from UK should I register on this or what ?

[@AccountingTeaBreak]

Sounds like your only data handling is for sales, accounting and your own marketing. Which is exempt. I don't know if it being in the USA changes that, I didn't see anything about international trade being special for the ICO. If you do any dropshipping or business services *for* other businesses you probably need to register, but if it is just you and your customers (and businesses serving you) then it doesn't sound like you'd need to pay, no.

[@aes249]

@@AccountingTeaBreak I didn't understand. I do normal dropshipping ( I find product in china and dropship them to USA that's it ) and I use my client's data to accomplish the sale only that's it.

[@aes249]

@@AccountingTeaBreak Could you explaine more the part where yous aid "(and businesses serving you)" Please.

[@infokrona9601]

good video, best video regarding ICO

[@DilDilpakistan1947]

Very informative vlog, thanks

[@TUTANKHAMUN077]

If i have company but no employee. Do i still need to pay?

[@jlty6163]

Thanks for the info

[@sandrakongo6419]

Thank you so much creating this youtube channel. You helped a lot!

[@human777]

if I run a recruitment business and have people's email addresses/phone numbers/CV's - do I have to pay a feee? Thanks.

[@AccountingTeaBreak]

I'm no expert in ICO registration, but I would say yes, that sounds like a good example of a situation where you should register. I certainly would in your situation.

[@professionalcricketinsights]

If I open a company but don't plan to run it for now. Do I need to register?

[@AccountingTeaBreak]

No, you aren't doing anything with the company so you don't need to. If they write to you (or if you don't want them to write to you) then you could go to their website and fill in the form they have for telling them why you don't need to pay a fee. Just say the business isn't trading and isn't handling any data.

[@HornseywoodArchive]

@@AccountingTeaBreak - thank you

[@Jackbennett01]

Fantastic video, clear and straight to the point. Exactly what I needed

[@drewstools1770]

Thanks really helpful....

[@mohammadlalehrangi9346]

Tnx

[@wilkuyou]

thanks a lot for your work

[@gmggmg6816]

Thats excellent info - thanks!

[@JAFFER3657]

Should E commerce stores pay this fee? I've been to their website and it is too open ended (vague) for a lay man to understand.

[@AccountingTeaBreak]

If the only reason you take someone's details is to complete the sale, then probably not. But every e-commerce store I've visited also wants to be able to keep your details and contact you afterwards and that might make it a yes. I agree that it is a pretty vague set of rules. They should just fund it out of central government so we all of us can happily sign up without paying.

[@JAFFER3657]

@@AccountingTeaBreak Agreed. Or include it at the time of company formation. A vague letter coming in the mail after months of formation looks fake and troublesome at the same time.

[@FoodTwist2020]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@moku8519]

Mate I run a ecom business virtually , I have a ltd company in uk and accept payments via stripe , coinbase , PayPal wire etc and they put personal info when paying that is address , name , mail , payment mode . Do I need to pay IFP if I do this ecom business also we provide consulting services same this way , don’t collect any other data . Also while paying our suppliers we don’t collect extra info than account details for paying and email , name and address. My business is small - annual turnover between £50k - 250K , expected is below 83k .Do I need to pay ico and if not what do I mention as reason and description to not pay ico in no fee page of ico. Thanks mate , appreciate your help

[@AccountingTeaBreak]

Well I can't be sure, so don't take this as gospel, but your description sounds like you are just doing the basic business things that are exempted from having to register with the ICO: people's details required just for sales, and for your own accounting and marketing stuff. If it is just a freetext box to tell them why you don't need to register then I would say something like that: "The business only collects personal data for sales, accounting and our own marketing reasons." They can contact you if they don't like what you wrote.

[@ChristinaFaith1]

Thank you, this was very helpful :)

[@pulsey2001]

They say you have to register even if you have a dash camera 📷 🙄

[@metube9541]

So it’s a legalised scam. Got it.

[@RossHbn]

I definitely agree it looks like a scam letter when it comes through. Believe you also have to pay if you have video recording in a commercial vehicle or premises.