To think this is fraud and do I say something or stay out of it?

The business owners are the toffs, so stopping them getting away with things should be right up your street!

I said SOME Brits. You see threads on here all the time with people falling over themselves to declaim that they would never pay cash in hand and would happily report people to HMRC, DWP etc. In most other countries, people don't pride themselves on shopping fellow citizens, let alone their bloody friends.

I understand what you mean OP.
Her relative owns Company A. Company B does work at your friends house but invoices company A who pays the bill. Friend gets job done for free and Company A has an invoice which is deductible for tax reasons as ‘repairs’
so yes, it’s in no way honest, but I’d still keep out of it. It goes on in plenty of larger businesses and as long as the invoice shows the work being done at Company A, then it can’t be proved otherwise.

Well I won’t tell, but only if your dad buys me a new fridge! 🤣

I’ve just bought an oven using my dad’s business account, go ahead and report me if that brings you joy

In what way are the books being cooked? Are all the wages and purchases going through the books? Or are you saying the company is reducing it's profits by doing the work free and potentially avoiding some tax, but that's not benefiting the business. I suppose the family member could be defrauding the company, depending on their position, tell the company if you think that, or if you think the company is defrauding HMRC tell HMRC.

I’ve read exactly this scenario on here a couple of months back.
Same lack of knowledge, light on facts and heavy on exclamation marks.

I don’t understand what you mean. Does the person your friend knows run some sort of building company? Or do you mean they are pretending the work is being carried out at the business instead of your friends house and using company money to pay for it?
but if that’s the case I still don’t understand how that would play out - unless lots of other companies are in on the conspiracy which sounds very doubtful!

Er what? You’re generalising a whole nation based on OP being jealous of her ‘friend’. Please

Goodness I hope this ‘friend’ of yours is on here and sees this thread.
You are not a friend. Jealousy stands out a mile from your post!

Christ why are some Brits such narks? Does it come from all the forelock tugging over royals and toffs? Too much deference to unearned authority.

So the family member is sending tradesmen to her house at the companies expense without their knowledge? If you were being a mean cow you could report it to the company as technically it’s theft. I suspect the relative is charging it onto other jobs.

if it were me though and I was a friend to the recipient not the business owner, of course I wouldn’t snitch on them!

What?? No they are not. Do you know much about running a business - they are just lowering their overall margin which is 100% their choice.

That doesn't make sense to me

How could you possibly know this? There is no reason at all to cook any books or commit any fraud. Businesses can do any work they like for whatever cost they want. The only way books would be cooked is if they were taking in money from somewhere else to cover the costs, but there is no evidence of that happening. Presumably the business is doing well enough that they can forego a bit of profit for a family member.

And to echo others, she's really not your friend if you're trying to get her into trouble.

Companies do pro bono work all the time - the cost of the labour and material to the company is then a tax write off. There’s nothing fraudulent about it.

Sorry but its not fraud. Its far better for a business with salaries employees to keep those employees working even for no payment than it is to have them sitting idle. For it to be fraud she would have to be claiming to pay them in order to recoup something but as its a personal property its not like she's claiming grants etc to fix it.

I think what OP means is if the said landscaping company is doing 5k worth of work for the business and 1k worth of work for her friend…then they charge the business 6k?

You have absolutely no idea if that is the case. An if the relative owns the company he can do free work if he wants.
You say she is a friend but you want to shaft her and her relative, with friends like you who needs enemies.

It could be fraud if the company put the costs of materials etc through the books as a deduction and there were no benefit whatsoever to the company for doing the work, but there is usually the development of young employees skills and goodwill / advertising to carrying out works for free by a company.

Have a word with yourself!

How is it fraud?

No, I'd mind your nose.
It's one of the few benefits of being self-employed as long as they cover their ass.
Are you saying that they are stealing? Or are they buying materials through the company with VAT reduction?

What do you mean? This makes no sense.

A business can do work without charging for any reason the like. If a roofing company fixes a charity’s rooof for free is that fraud? No. This isn’t either.