Criminal and Civil Investigations

What is it?

Civil

Usually, changes are made to the tax position and duty owed. HMRC then notify of the changes with a payment demand. Far more serious cases can lead to the effect of taking away any property that is the subject of the order. Additionally the authorities have the power to freeze a person’s assets with a property freezing order, and if they have a good arguable case then a recovery order will be made. The advantage of civil recovery powers is that there is no need on the part of the authorities to prove any criminal offence; only that the property in the person’s hands is, more likely than not, the result of unlawful conduct on the part of that person or another.

Criminal

More serious fraud cases where there are three HMRC sectors where staff are authorised to use criminal investigation powers:

• Criminal Investigation – involving tax or duty fraud
• Specialist Investigations (Road Fuel Testing Unit) – responsible for detecting and disrupting the illegal supply, sale and misuse of fuel for road vehicles
• Risk and Intelligence Service – using criminal intelligence to investigate large scale and organised crime

When investigating any of the above, HMRC has the power to:

• Issue orders requiring information to be produced – known as ‘production orders’
• Apply for search warrants
• Make arrests
• Search suspects and premises following arrest

These cases we would generally not assist with other than to make a preliminary report if required. You would need to seek tax lawyers to represent you with these types of cases

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Useful links

HMRC - Criminal Investigation Policy