Tax Health Plan (Amnesty for Medical Professionals)
Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility
Corporation Tax investigations
Disputes, Tribunals and Internal Review
In tax investigations the onus normally lies with HM Revenue and Customs to discover irregularities, put forward estimates of the tax loss and then extend settlement proposals. Exceptionally, where HM Revenue and Customs believe they have strong grounds for suspecting that a substantial and deliberate tax fraud has been perpetrated, they may choose to use the so called "Civil Investigation of Fraud" procedure, details of which are set out in their Code of Practice 9.
There are 6 specialist units in the UK which are dedicated to handling more heavyweight tax investigations using HM Revenue and Customs’ "Civil Investigation of Fraud" procedure; details of which are set out in Code of Practice 9. This is a matter to be taken very seriously and you should immediately take specialist advice. HM Revenue and Customs will assert they have grounds for suspecting that you have committed a serious tax fraud. It is not an accusation which is levelled lightly. They will invite you to disclose to them what tax offences you have committed in return for which they offer a guarantee of immunity from tax prosecution for your conduct. The process is intended to be intimidating.
You will be asked to attend a meeting at which senior inspectors will read to you from a prepared script and then invite you to confess to them, in broad terms, what you have done. The onus is transferred to the taxpayer to disclose what irregularities they are responsible for. They will expect you to commission the preparation of a formal disclosure report setting out in detail what historical tax arrears exist as a consequence of your conduct. . The investigating officer will not explicitly prescribe what the format of the report should be nor will he indicate how much work he feels should be done.
Some professionals use this as an excuse to look at every aspect of their client’s financial affairs for several years at great expense in terms of fees. It ought to be possible to adopt a "measured" approach and produce a document which meets HM Revenue and Customs requirements without incurring disproportionate professional fees. These comments are particularly relevant to anybody considering the forthcoming New Disclosure Opportunity referred to in the narrative above.
Whilst it remains the case that there is no legal obligation to attend a meeting, in contrast to a normal tax investigation, there would have to be compelling reasons (health for example) for us to recommend that you resist attending a meeting requested under Code of Practice 9. If are being investigated under Code of Practice 9 your standing with the tax authorities will be low. You probably have little to lose by attending an interview and potentially a great deal to gain by making a favourable impression and evaluating the strength of HM Revenue and Custom’s concerns.
The financial threshold in relation to the Civil Investigation of Fraud procedure is an anticipated loss to the Exchequer of at least £75,000. The specialist units will normally deal with cases where the overall anticipated settlement is less than £500,000. Their cases originate from the following sources:
"Hector Hector" are very experienced in this arena of tax investigation work. We will be able to prepare you for your initial interview and give you proper support and protection. We will subsequently help you produce a disclosure report which meets HM Revenue and Customs’ requirements.