Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Fraud definition

What does Fraud mean? Fraud describes dishonest conduct intended to secure a gain or cause a loss, usually through deception, and arises in criminal prosecutions, civil claims (deceit and fraudulent misrepresentation) and regulatory enforcement. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, the Fraud Act 2006 creates a single offence of fraud (section 1), committed by dishonestly: (a) making a false representation (to a person, system or device); (b) failing to disclose information when under a legal duty to disclose; or (c) abusing a position. In each case there must be an intention to make a gain or to cause loss or risk...

HMRC Code of Practice 9 (COP9): the Contractual Disclosure Facility for deliberate tax fraud—scope, procedure, disclosure, settlement and criminal risk (UK)

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

Civil investigation of tax Fraud

HMRC’s stated approach to tax fraud is to favour civil procedures rather than criminal ones wherever appropriate, and where a civil route is suitable it will be pursued. Pursuing criminal enquiries and prosecutions is costly and, as a result, runs counter to HMRC’s revenue‑Raising function. Accordingly, criminal action is reserved for instances where it will operate as an effective deterrent or where there are aggravating features, such as involvement in an organised plan. As an alternative to a criminal investigation, where deliberate behaviour has brought about a loss of tax, HMRC may employ its civil investigation of fraud process as set out within Code of practice 9 (COP9). COP9 operates through the Contractual Disclosure Facility (CDF), which gives the recipient the opportunity to make a full disclosure of their conduct, with HMRC agreeing not to commence a criminal investigation or pursue a prosecution in relation to the conduct disclosed. The COP9 procedure is available where HMRC have reasonable grounds to suspect tax fraud, or where an individual voluntarily admits tax fraud. A defaulting taxpayer is required to provide full disclosure and to repay any tax and interest incurred over the preceding 20 years, together with a financial...

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Nick Barnard

Corker Binning

Nick has been a solicitor at Corker Binning specialising in crime and regulatory defence since 2014. He routinely advises and represents individual and corporate clients in a range of financial, tax and business crime and regulatory matters, including investigations by the SFO, the NCA, the FCA and the FRC. He also has expertise in general crime matters and police station advice on offences ranging from murder, rape and grievous bodily harm to VAT fraud, drink-driving, possession of indecent images and misconduct in public office.Career highlights include: Advising a client involved UK FCA and US Department of Justice investigations, and subsequent UK–US extradition proceedings, arising out of loans worth $2bn made by European banks and guaranteed by the Government of Mozambique.Representing a client prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud arising from participation in allegedly fraudulent tax avoidance schemes. All charges were...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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