HMRC elite fraud team conducting 200 criminal investigations against the “enablers” of tax evasion

HMRC has today confirmed that its elite fraud team revealed it is currently conducting 200 criminal investigations into professional advisers and other “enablers” of tax evasion.

RPC, the City-headquartered law firm, says that the number of criminal investigations underway is surprisingly high. Enablers of tax evasion might include accountants or lawyers who provide administrative support to a tax evasion scheme or a business that allows one of its subsidiaries to evade tax.

Adam Craggs, Partner at RPC says: “HMRC had promised to use its new powers to go after those who either deliberately or passively help tax evaders but the sheer scale of its campaign is unexpected.”

“HMRC’s is now looking at all links in the tax evasion chain, coming down just as hard on those enabling tax crimes as those committing them.”

“HMRC have also made it clear that that it is not just accountants, lawyers and bankers that they see as enablers of tax evasion. They also consider technology companies as enablers  both in terms of bespoke software that allows food outlets to hide their till income but also encryption software.”