HM Revenue and Customs started 1,091 serious tax investigations over the last year to 31 March 2023, according to a new briefing from international law firm Pinsent Masons.
The ‘COP8’ and ‘COP9’ investigations allow taxpayers to avoid the heaviest penalties, including prison sentences, if they cooperate fully with HMRC.
The international law firm revealed that 417 investigations into the most serious suspected cases of tax evasion under ‘COP9’ were carried out in the 12 months to March 31, 2023.
Additionally, 674 ‘COP8’ civil investigations into those believed to be avoiding tax were also carried out.
In total, HMRC has 3,300 of these COP8 and COP9 investigations under way.
Pinsent Masons said the scale of these most serious investigations forms part of a crackdown on major tax evasion and avoidance by HMRC.
One example was Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone who recently failed to cooperate in full with a COP9 investigation centred around £400mn of overseas assets, the law firm explained.
He received a £650m fine and was handed a 17-month sentence suspended for two years.
Sophie Warren, tax manager at Pinsent Masons, said: “The number of serious tax investigations opened by HMRC demonstrates the extent of HMRC’s crackdown on the most serious tax evasion and avoidance.
“A COP8 or COP9 investigation represents the ‘last chance saloon’ for people who have been involved in fraudulent evasion of tax or have partaken in tax avoidance schemes.
“It’s the final opportunity to come clean to HMRC. If they don’t, the scale of the penalties can be eye-watering – hundreds of millions in fines or even years in prison.”
