Tax Fraud Solicitors

Tax fraud covers a range of conduct HMRC treats seriously: falsifying tax returns or accounts, failing to declare income, VAT fraud, payroll and PAYE evasion, failing to register for tax, using offshore accounts to conceal assets, submitting false expense claims, and conspiracy to defraud the public revenue.

It's a serious offence — conviction can carry up to 10 years' imprisonment, unlimited fines, and confiscation of assets, with the sentence depending on the scale of the fraud and the level of intent involved.

Cases usually begin as an HMRC enquiry, sometimes prompted by a voluntary disclosure, an informant, or discrepancies HMRC's own systems flag. Whether it stays a civil tax dispute or becomes a criminal investigation often turns on whether HMRC concludes the conduct was deliberate rather than careless.

Where an issue is genuinely a mistake or an adviser's error rather than deliberate evasion, saying so early — with proper advice — can be the difference between a civil penalty and a criminal charge.

We advise early on whether an HMRC enquiry is heading toward a criminal investigation, working with forensic accountants and tax specialists where needed, and support voluntary disclosures and early negotiation with HMRC where that's the right course.

• Advice on HMRC's powers and how an enquiry can escalate
• Advice before any interview under caution or voluntary disclosure
• Review of the financial evidence HMRC relies on
• Advice on related restraint order or bail variation applications
• Representation if the case proceeds to prosecution