Tax investigation and litigation

Corker Binning has a strong team in place to advise on investigations and prosecutions relating to direct and indirect tax. We have extensive experience of the wide range of powers available to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) when investigating suspected tax evasion including search warrants and the various types of production order.

We advise on, and conduct negotiations for, administrative civil settlements using the route most suitable to the case, often working with other professional advisers, particularly where voluntary disclosures are concerned. We have advised in a number of disclosures using the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility and others involving compound settlements or HMRC Code 9 investigations. We advise on legal challenges to search warrants and other investigative powers and we act in some of the largest and most complex prosecutions brought by the Revenue and Customs division of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

We have particular experience in MTIC or carousel frauds and have achieved a number of high profile acquittals in these cases. We also have expertise of acting for professional clients and businesses caught up in investigations by HMRC or the Revenue and Customs division of the CPS. For example, we have advised both individuals and institutions in the financial services sector who have been compelled by statutory powers to provide information to HMRC.

Recent work on tax investigations and litigation includes:

• acting for an executive charged in Project Amazon, an alleged fraud relating to losses claimed in respect of environmental research and development. This is the largest direct tax investigation prosecuted by the Revenue and Customs Division involving alleged tax at risk of over £108 million
• representing a client in the first negotiated plea agreement with the CPS under the Attorney General’s Guidelines for Plea Discussions in Serious Fraud cases involving over £1.5 million of VAT reclaims
• a company which is the subject of allegations by HMRC that it has connived in a carbon offsetting scheme which the HMRC claims is a fraudulent device to evade tax
• an employer in a multi-million pound case concerning the alleged underpayment of the taxes of building workers on a major construction project.

For more information about Corker Binning’s expertise in this area, visit fraud and corruption or call 0207 353 6000.