Our Insights
First Insight into HMRC’s use of Corporate Criminal Offences Powers
Change your attitudes towards preventing tax evasion or suffer the consequences. That was the very strong message intended by the government when new Corporate Criminal Offences (CCO) Powers for HMRC were announced in the March 2015 Budget. As such, since 30th September 2017, it has been a crime for corporations to fail to put in place reasonable procedures to prevent associated persons (those acting for or on their behalf) from criminally facilitating tax evasion. With unlimited fines and the reputational damage entailed from a finding of guilt, this was a significant new power.
Nearly 2½ years later, HMRC have announced that it has 9 live CCO investigations with a further 21 “opportunities” under review across 10 different business sectors, including financial services, oils, construction, labour provision and software development. It has further confirmed that these sit across all HMRC customer groups from small business through to some of the UK’s largest organisations.
Going forward, HMRC intends to update this information biannually.
Our Insights
JHA ranked in top tier again in Legal 500 UK 2025
We are happy to announce that JHA's Tax Disputes Team has again been ranked as Tier 1 by Legal 500 today, a ranking we have proudly achieved every year since we began in 2013. A special congratulations to Graham Aaronson KC who has again been recognised in the Hall of Fame category, Iain MacWhannell (ranked as a Leading Partner) and Mei Wong (ranked as a Leading Associate).
This is the latest successful ranking, following previous top-tier rankings in Chambers UK Legal Guide 2024 and Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2024.