Do archaic tax evasion offences create unintended outcomes for tax enforcement and compliance?

Bourton, Sam

Abstract

In the UK, more than twenty statutory offences can be used to prosecute tax evasion. However, the prosecution of natural and legal persons for tax crimes is often undertaken using archaic common law offences and legal doctrines. In fact, very few individuals and companies have been prosecuted for tax evasion in the UK, with the majority of tax crimes addressed using cost-effective civil investigation and settlement procedures. While Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs’ Criminal Investigation Policy emphasises that criminal investigation should be reserved for the most serious cases of tax evasion, in practice, use of the criminal justice system has been reserved for low-hanging fruit. Accordingly, this paper examines whether the pursuit of less-serious tax crimes through criminal courts is in part attributable to outdated tax evasion offences and legal doctrines, which inhibit the pursuit of high-value tax offenders and the facilitators of tax crimes.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: VIRTEU - Final International Conference, 2022
• Start Date: Jun 23, 2022
• End Date: Jun 24, 2022
• Deposit Date: May 4, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 4, 2023
• Keywords: tax evasion; tax enforcement; tax compliance; Tax
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10734655
• Related Public URLs: https://www.corporatecrime.co.uk/virteu-international-final-conference