Frequently asked questions

Code of Practice 8 is the procedure HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) follows for civil investigations where it is not using Code of Practice 9. It is used where HMRC believes there may be a significant loss of tax, mainly involving tax avoidance schemes, complex arrangements and offshore matters. It applies to individuals, partnerships, LLPs, companies and trusts, and to every tax HMRC collects. COP8 is a civil process, not a criminal one — but it is run by HMRC's most experienced investigators and must be handled carefully from the outset.

No. COP8 is a civil investigation, which means HMRC is seeking to recover tax, interest and penalties rather than prosecute. However, it is opened by the Fraud Investigation Service, and HMRC can switch to a COP9 fraud investigation — or a criminal one — at any point if it comes to suspect fraud. Knowingly making false statements during a COP8 can also lead to prosecution. That is why what you say and sign in the first weeks matters so much, and why specialist advice before you respond is strongly recommended.

Both are run by HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, but they start from different positions. COP8 is used where HMRC suspects a significant loss of tax through avoidance or complex arrangements but fraud is not usually alleged at the outset. COP9 is used where HMRC suspects deliberate fraud; it offers a contractual route — the Contractual Disclosure Facility — under which you admit deliberate behaviour in exchange for protection from criminal investigation into the conduct you disclose, provided your disclosure is full and honest. A COP8 case can become a COP9 case if HMRC's view changes. Our sister site cop9tax.co.uk explains COP9.

HMRC rarely writes without reason. Common triggers include data shared by banks and overseas tax authorities under international exchange agreements, disclosures made by scheme promoters under the avoidance disclosure rules, information from third parties, HMRC's Connect data-matching system, and open-source monitoring of Companies House, the Land Registry, news sites and public social media. COP8 can also begin when an existing enquiry is taken over or escalated by the Fraud Investigation Service. Assume HMRC knows more than the letter says.

COP8 investigations are run by HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service (FIS), the part of HMRC that handles its most serious civil cases. FIS officers are highly trained and experienced investigators, and they usually have substantial information before they write to you. This is not a routine compliance check by your local tax office. The letters, meetings and information requests are carefully prepared, which is why your responses should be too.

COP8 is a voluntary process in the sense that you cannot be forced to attend meetings or provide information informally. But refusing to engage rarely helps: HMRC can use formal legal powers, including Schedule 36 information notices, to compel documents and answers, and a lack of co-operation can mean higher penalties and a greater risk of the case being escalated. Specialist advice helps you understand your obligations and engage with HMRC by presenting your full position completely and accurately.

HMRC usually invites you to an opening meeting, but attendance is voluntary — you cannot be compelled to attend. Whether you should attend is a strategic question. A meeting can help narrow the issues and demonstrate co-operation, but anything you say is on the record and notes will be prepared. If a meeting does take place, you should be properly prepared and accompanied by your adviser. Never attend alone or unprepared, and never agree to a meeting before you have taken specialist advice on your position.

No. After a meeting HMRC will usually send you its notes and ask you to sign them as an accurate record. You are not obliged to sign, and you should never sign notes you disagree with or have not checked carefully — signed notes can be used as evidence of what you admitted. The right approach is to review the notes line by line with your adviser, correct anything that is inaccurate or misleading, and only then decide whether to sign, amend or respond in writing instead.

Yes. HMRC has wide information powers. It can issue formal notices — known as Schedule 36 notices — to banks, accountants, advisers and other third parties requiring them to provide information and documents about your affairs, sometimes without telling you first. It also receives data automatically from banks and overseas tax authorities under international exchange agreements. This is one reason why guessing at answers is dangerous: HMRC may already hold information that contradicts an incomplete or inaccurate response.

HMRC cannot force entry to your home in a COP8 investigation and will not visit your home unless you invite it, except for any part used for business. It may ask to inspect business premises, usually by agreement and with prior warning, although HMRC's Code allows it to visit without notice where there is a clear operational need, and it can seek tribunal approval to inspect business premises. If HMRC officers arrive, you are entitled to take advice before speaking to them, and you should.

It depends on the complexity of your affairs, how much information HMRC requests and how the case is handled. Straightforward cases can settle within months; complex cases involving offshore structures or multiple years can run considerably longer. What is within your control is how efficiently the process is managed: prompt, complete and well-prepared responses tend to shorten an investigation, while delays, gaps and corrections tend to extend it. Early specialist involvement usually saves time as well as money.

A payment on account is a payment towards the tax HMRC believes is owed, made before the final amount is agreed. HMRC often asks for one during a COP8 investigation. Paying is voluntary, but it has real advantages: interest runs on unpaid tax, so a payment on account stops the interest clock on the amount paid, and it demonstrates co-operation. However, the amount and timing should be considered carefully — paying too much, or paying in a way that implies acceptance of HMRC's figures, needs thought. Take advice before paying.

It is a certificate HMRC may ask you to sign at the end of a COP8 investigation, confirming that you have made a complete disclosure of all irregularities in your tax affairs. Signing it is a serious step: signing a certificate you know to be false can lead to a criminal investigation and prosecution. Never sign a Certificate of Full Disclosure — or anything else HMRC sends you — without specialist advice on whether it is accurate and complete.

Penalties are charged as a percentage of the tax due and depend on behaviour. As a general guide: careless behaviour carries a maximum of 30%, deliberate behaviour 70%, and deliberate and concealed behaviour 100% — with lower rates where you make a full unprompted disclosure. In the most serious offshore cases penalties can reach up to 200% of the tax. Interest is charged on top. These figures are a general guide, not advice: the right category and the available reductions are often the hardest-fought parts of a case, which is where specialist negotiation matters.

The normal time limit for assessing tax is 4 years. This extends to 6 years where the loss was careless, 12 years for most offshore matters, and 20 years where the behaviour was deliberate. Which years are genuinely in time is often a live question in a COP8 case, and HMRC does not always get it right. Part of our work is checking every year HMRC is pursuing and challenging any that fall outside the correct time limit.

Yes. HMRC can switch a COP8 case to a COP9 fraud investigation — or refer it for criminal investigation — at any point if it comes to suspect deliberate fraud. Knowingly making false statements or signing a false disclosure can also lead to prosecution. This is the central risk in a COP8 case and the reason the early weeks matter: what you say, write and sign shapes how HMRC views your behaviour. Specialist handling from the outset is the best protection against escalation.

Possibly. HMRC has power to publish the details of people who are penalised for deliberate tax defaults above certain thresholds — sometimes called 'naming and shaming'. It can also monitor those it considers serious defaulters under the Managing Serious Defaulters programme after a case closes. Publication is not automatic and can often be avoided depending on how the case is handled and concluded, but it cannot be guaranteed. If protecting your reputation matters to you, raise it with us at the outset so it shapes the strategy.

Yes. If you disagree with an assessment or a penalty, you generally have 30 days to appeal. You can ask for an internal review by an HMRC officer who was not involved in the case, or appeal directly to the independent First-tier Tribunal. Many cases are concluded by agreement with HMRC, but the right to appeal remains an important protection. Time limits are strict, so if you receive an assessment you disagree with, take advice promptly rather than letting the deadline pass.

Your first call is free. If you want us to act, we start with a fixed-fee case review of £1,950 + VAT. We read the letter and your records, set out the risks and agree a strategy with you. You then receive a formal written quote for the next stages, with a fixed fee for each one, before any further work begins. The case review fee is credited in full against the first stage if you instruct us. If HMRC widens the investigation, we agree a revised fee with you before doing the extra work.

Everything you tell us is treated in strict confidence, subject to our legal and regulatory obligations. Your initial call is confidential whether or not you go on to instruct us. Discretion is one of our four working principles, and for many of our clients — directors, trustees and high-net-worth individuals — it is the one that matters most.

For the first call, just your account of the situation in your own words. It helps to have the HMRC letter to hand, including any deadline it sets, and a rough picture of the years and arrangements involved. If you have recent tax returns and details of any schemes, offshore structures or complex arrangements you have used, gather those too — but do not worry if things are incomplete. Part of our job in the first week is to work out what exists, what HMRC is likely to hold, and what we need to obtain.

Yes, and we often do. COP8 investigations need specialist handling, but your accountant knows your affairs, so the best results usually come from working alongside them rather than replacing them. We do not take over your general accounts or tax work; we handle the investigation and hand everything back when the case is resolved. Your accountant is welcome to refer you to us directly — our For advisers page explains how referrals work and what we promise the advisers who trust us with their clients.