What is a corporate criminal offence?
The corporate criminal offences (CCOs) for failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion were introduced in 2017. Offences are committed where a relevant body fails to prevent an associated person criminally facilitating the evasion of a tax. This applies regardless of whether the tax evaded is owed in the UK or in a foreign country.
The legislation focuses on the failure to prevent the crimes of those who act for, or on behalf of, a corporation. The onus is on the relevant body to demonstrate that it has put in place a system of reasonable procedures that identifies and mitigates its tax evasion facilitation risks.
The purpose of the legislation is to drive behavioural change, although the fines for organisations found guilty of offences are potentially unlimited. To date, no charging decisions have been made under the legislation. However, some investigations have found other tax and regulatory offences that are being pursued.
HMRC’s activities
HMRC regularly publishes data about the number of live cases and opportunities it is reviewing under the CCO legislation. This is summarised in the table below.
| As at: | Number of live investigations | Number of live opportunities under review | Number of opportunities reviewed and rejected to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 December 2024 | 11 | 28 | 114 |
| 30 June 2024 | 11 | 28 | 101 |
| 1 January 2024 | 11 | 24 | 94 |
| 30 June 2023 | 9 | 25 | 83 |
| 1 January 2023 | 9 | 26 | 77 |
Over time, HMRC’s updates have shown that its investigations and opportunities have spanned a range of business sectors, from small business through to some of the UK’s largest organisations. The named sectors include financial services, oils, construction, labour provision, software development, software providers, accountancy and legal services, and transport.
ICAEW’s guidance
ICAEW members are reminded of their responsibilities in this area: the need to review their organisation’s attitude to risk and to put in place reasonable procedures to stop the facilitation of tax evasion. ICAEW has published an article which explains the key points and provides links to further information.
Members are also reminded of the requirement to comply with Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT).
Further information
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