HMRC Targets The Legal Profession - Advice For London Lawyers

As part of a move to target specific sectors in parts of the country they consider to be high risk, at the end of last year HMRC established a task force specifically to look at irregularities with the tax affairs of solicitors and barristers in the London area. Several months on, HMRC is enjoying notable success with this new approach.

Specialist investigators will review the files of selected London-based lawyers and match the information in those files with HMRC intelligence data, before making written challenges in cases where there are discrepancies. Two barristers have already been in court on tax offence charges and both have now received significant custodial sentences. The first received a three-and-a-half year sentence for a tax fraud involving additional tax of £600,000 covering a 12 year period. The second barrister received an 18 month sentence for an £80,000 tax fraud covering a seven year period. Both were significant victories for HMRC, which should send out the message that nobody is above the law.

HMRC has 'promised' the Treasury that it will increase the number of criminal prosecutions, so it is likely that the more serious cases will be pursued by criminal investigators which will inevitably involve searches being carried out under PACE legislation. HMRC is keen to pursue criminal investigations in cases involving high profile taxpayers or professionals. A London-based lawyer would certainly fit the bill and provide HMRC with the publicity it seeks. However, there is another avenue for HMRC to publicise details of tax...