Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Administration definition

What does Administration mean? Administration is a corporate insolvency procedure used to protect and stabilise a financially distressed company while an independent insolvency practitioner (the administrator) takes control to pursue rescue or a better return to creditors than liquidation. It is a statutory process in England and Wales and Scotland under the Insolvency Act 1986, Schedule B1, and in Northern Ireland under the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, Schedule B1. Key features include an immediate moratorium on most creditor enforcement, displacement of the directors’ management powers, and appointment either by court order or out of court by the company, its directors or...

HMRC dawn raids: powers to search and seize, warrant execution, and offences for non-compliance—key points for lawyers

Published by a LexisNexis Risk & Compliance expert

Practice notes

What is HMRC?

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) manages the administration and collection of UK taxes. Its scope includes:

Direct taxes: income tax and corporation tax
Capital taxes: capital gains tax and inheritance tax
Indirect taxes: value added tax
Excise duties
stamp duty land tax

HMRC is also a law enforcement authority investigating serious organised fiscal crime, taking on work formerly carried out by HM Customs and Excise (excluding drug trafficking), such as tobacco and alcohol smuggling.

Main reasons for an HMRC raid

There is an online facility and a hotline for reporting suspected tax fraud; submissions are reviewed by HMRC. Where it considers there is a basis to proceed, HMRC may make arrests and search premises. It also engages in insolvency processes and, as a creditor, if it identifies potential tax frauds it will investigate and may raid business locations.

Powers

HMRC’s investigative powers are governed by numerous statutes. The ability to obtain...

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Michael Potts

PCB Byrne

Michael is a specialist in the defence of corporate and financial crime and regulatory investigations and prosecutions. He has represented senior executives and other professionals in many high-profile domestic and international investigations and prosecutions conducted by the SFO, FCA, NCA and other prosecution/regulatory agencies.Michael regularly advises and represents senior financial services personnel facing FCA/PRA and other regulator investigations and disciplinary action. He also advises and represents high-net-worth individuals facing revenue investigations and potential prosecutions.Michael has also been extensively involved in advising clients facing financial and trade sanctions both domestically and globally with experience of sanctions regimes in a range of countries. His most recent experience includes representing high-net-worth individuals that are the subject of sanctions imposed by OFAC, OFSI and the Minister for External Relations and Financial Services (Jersey), including challenging the ‘designated’ status of a number of...

Ilana Baines

PCB Byrne

Ilana is an accomplished criminal litigation lawyer who has extensive experience defending in complex cases including bribery, corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, Account Freezing Orders, insider dealing, fraud by abuse of position, fraudulent selling and land banking.Ilana’s experience covers investigations and prosecutions brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), The Royal Mail and National Trading Standards. She regularly advises professional clients on regulatory proceedings, including Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) investigations and interventions. Ilana also specialises in Restraint and Confiscation proceedings.Notable Cases:Operation Puffin: £8.7 million involving the supply of potatoes to Sainsbury’s.Operation Elveden: Represented a Sun journalist on charges of conspiracy to commit Misconduct in Public Office.Operation Cotton: FCA’s first prosecution of Land Banking, amounting to £4.3 million.SFO investigation into accounting practices at Tesco.SFO prosecution in respect of LIBOR...

Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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