If HMRC suspects a serious loss of tax from fraud or evasion, they usually open the investigation under Code of Practice 9, unless they have already decided to prosecute. COP9 is run by the Fraud Investigation Service. You are offered two paths: admit the fraud and use the Contractual Disclosure Facility, or deny it.
Under the CDF you make a complete disclosure of the frauds, in return for immunity from prosecution on what you have disclosed. You have 60 days from the offer to give an outline disclosure of every area involved. Immunity only covers what is in that outline. A material omission lets HMRC prosecute. HMRC’s wording is that a person commits an offence if they are knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of tax — you cannot commit tax fraud accidentally.
How a COP9 case is worked
There is often a formal meeting about the outline disclosure and your affairs. You will generally need to attend. Your adviser then prepares a detailed report of the tax unpaid, with as much evidence as exists. Where records are thin, estimates have to be made; HMRC will test every assumption before they settle.
A full CDF disclosure is what reduces the penalty in the final negotiation. An inadequate report is how a civil COP9 becomes a criminal file. COP9 itself tells you to take independent advice, and notes that many people appoint a specialist even if they already have an accountant.
How Solaratax helps
We attend the opening meeting, agree the scope of the report and write it. The 60-day clock is short. If a COP9 letter has arrived, contact us the same day — do not use the period to “gather thoughts” without a plan.
Call 01615 314179 or email enquiries@solaratax.co.uk for a free, confidential discussion. We will not contact HMRC in your name until you instruct us to act.
Questions we are asked
Related investigations
Tax fraud and tax evasion
The most serious civil cases — and the line between a financial settlement and a prosecution file.
HMRC Fraud Investigation Service
FIS teams handle the highest-value civil fraud and avoidance cases — sometimes while another HMRC office appears to be writing the letters.
Criminal tax investigations
Rare, severe cases: cautioned interviews, searches, and a prison sentence rather than a tax penalty.
HMRC voluntary tax disclosure
Telling HMRC before they tell you. Unprompted disclosure is how penalties fall and how criminal risk is reduced.
Talk to Solaratax
128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX. 01615 314179. enquiries@solaratax.co.uk. Free, confidential, no obligation.
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