Opened a Business account for selling domains. Advice appreciated?

[Pce500]

Hi

I recently opened a Business account as I'll be selling domain names and want to do it properly.

I have several domain negotions undergoing with potential buyers. Some direct contact from end users and some via the Uniregistry market place. Several of the domains may be sold for £15000 to £20000 and maybe one may be sold in the £40000 to £60000 range.

I hope to receive payment via escrow or paypal and from Uniregistry.

My question is that as I want to do everything properly and I've heard accounts of business accounts being closed/frozen due to large transactions being received and banks worried about money laundering (I completely understand this). This worries me as I obviously don't want payments into my account being stopped should these sales go through.

I contacted my bank business adviser (Lloyds) and told him about my concern. He said as long as you mentioned the nature of your business (which I did i.e. selling domain names)when you opened your account you will be fine but may occasionally get checked if there are large transactions and may be asked about source of payment. He said as long as you give evidence/contract of sale you will be ok and he mentioned my business of selling domains is not that of usual business customers.

Now many on this board I believe are veteran domain sellers. How have you dealt with business accounts particularly for large domain sales, What would you advise me to do to avoid headaches with the bank?

How would I be able to tell them the source of funds that the buyer used to pay for my domains via escrow or Uniregistry? I wouldn't know this, would they ask for that and how could I justify large transactions into my account when I sell a domain?

Sorry for such a long post but would really appreciate your advice?

 

[aZooZa]

You have nothing to worry about (except tax) for transactions of this size. Obviously you'll be able to evidence the source of your incoming funds, and your bank is aware of the nature of your business. The only concern would be perhaps to mitigate some tax liabilities if, in the future, you're dealing in millions of pounds. Lloyds would also be able to advise you on this, but they wouldn't be my first port of call. An hour with a tax lawyer would probably be well worth your time for probably no money.

Don't lose any sleep - you're fine!

 

[timter51]

Also keep on top of VAT, which I'm sure you're aware of. If you're in no great rush to sell, I'd suggest just keeping your sales under the £85,000 threshold on a rolling 12 month basis so you don't have to worry about it.

 

[Edwin]

Make sure you can identify the end buyer. If you're going via Escrow you may not have the full name and contact details of the ultimate source of the money, because the escrow process provides an opportunity for anonymity.

The solution can be as simple as insisting the other party sign a contract (which is probably a good idea anyway at the price points you're describing) - record their full details in that, along with the domain and agreed purchase price, and you have your "paper trail"...

 

[Pce500]

Thanks guys awesome advice,really appreciate it.