Whether you’ve caught wind of a potential investigation against you or you’ve been officially charged with tax evasion, getting legal help and support is imperative. While the governing bodies in question are looking for the truth, they’re also looking to seek justice. That justice might also be ill-placed, which is why it’s important to know exactly what you’re being accused of.
Tax fraud is a fairly common crime being committed in the UK, whether it is done intentionally or not. If you’re being investigated, then you’ll want to get legal support immediately, regardless of what’s true.
In this guide, we’ll look at what tax fraud or tax evasion is, what the process entails when it comes to an investigation and how fraud solicitors can help.
Fraud is considered a deliberate concealment, omission or misinterpretation of information. It’s a false or deceptive presentation, and when it comes to tax fraud and evasion, it’s all about gaining an advantage.
Tax fraud covers a wide range of illegal activities, which include the following:
Some individuals will find ways of smuggling in taxable goods into the UK from outside the EU. This means taxable persons are failing to pay import VAT and duties. This is a type of tax fraud that can result in being caught for tax fraud crimes.
There are a number of tax repayment benefits and reliefs that some people and businesses can claim for, depending on their circumstances.
However, while most of these are genuinely claiming, some may see this as an opportunity to take advantage. Falsely claiming repayments or relief is not something you should be doing. If you’ve done it by mistake, it’s always best to get in touch with HMRC to admit the fault, rather than pretending you never did it in the first place.
Deliberately submitting false tax returns is definitely something that can land you in a lot of trouble. Nowadays, there’s a paper trail and a digital trail when it comes to where money comes and goes.
By submitting false tax returns, you are deliberately trying to evade paying tax, even if the evasion is saving you a few hundred pounds here and there each year.
It’s imperative that you submit tax returns as accurately as you can. That way, you won’t land yourself in hot water. However, tax returns aren’t always the easiest thing for people to navigate, so some people and businesses can play the naive card when being accused.
Hiding income, gains or wealth in offshore accounts is definitely not something that is taken lightly and is one that could see you imprisoned or at least heavily fined.
While tax avoidance can be done legitimately as long as you adhere to the guidelines set out by HMRC, tax fraud or evasion is not something you’ll get off lightly for.
HMRC are very informative on what they’ll do when it comes to tackling potential tax fraud activities.
The governing body has helped to prevent this sort of fraud from happening in the first place by building checks and controls into their systems and changing legislation to make it more difficult or impossible to commit tax fraud.
When tax fraud does happen, HMRC have a range of specialist investigation capabilities and powers that enable it to hold perpetrators responsible. However, just like the FCA, there can be blips and errors in the system that accuse individuals and businesses of tax fraud where no fraud has taken place.
With tax fraud, most of the efforts made by HMRC are done so through civil powers. Most of the investigations made into tax fraud typically help to identify and collect the unpaid tax, while also imposing financial penalties on those responsible.
In cases of fraud where it’s pursued on a criminal level and therefore taken to court, HMRC uses a specialist approach, and as such, those who are found guilty of tax fraud are made an example of.
Criminal cases, though, can be expensive and time-consuming, so HMRC will only pursue this method in rare scenarios.
When you’re accused of tax fraud, HMRC will likely liaise with you directly to try and claim back what is rightfully theirs.
However, it’s important that you seek legal representation right away so that the solicitors in question can help to navigate each stage in detail. Again, as mentioned above, mistakes occur, and sometimes there’s some overreaching that occurs where you’re not actually responsible for anything.
The penalties for tax evasion can be fairly steep, depending on whether it remains as a civil case or one that escalates to the courts.
Fraud solicitors are available to help those who’ve been accused of tax fraud and to provide them with all the support and guidance they need legally. With many people getting caught out wrongly, it’s imperative that you get the fair support and trial that you may ultimately need to face.
HMRC will often pursue tax evasion cases where it’s noticeable, but there may also be genuine and legitimate reasons as to why it’s not tax evasion. Being part of a tax avoidance scheme without proper knowledge of what you’re doing is common and something HMRC supports in getting out of.
Not checking your pay can also be a problem, because you may be unknowingly not paying the right amount of tax.
Fraud solicitors are here to help figure out the truth and to help seek justice for being wrongly accused or for getting the best outcome if there’s truth to the accusations. As an important first step, as soon as you’re accused, get representation. It can be hard to deal with such accusations emotionally in the moment, but it’s important that you’re seeking legal help quickly.
When you’ve been accused of tax fraud, you need legal representation you can trust. Our solicitors at ABV Solicitors have a wealth of experience and knowledge to help. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you.
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