Or should that be your client’s number?
HMRC are always on the lookout for non-compliant taxpayers and uses various means to achieve that objective. Like a police officer, HMRC may have a sixth sense for such matters and follow their nose from an insignificant beginning. Sometimes, they need only the smallest amount of information to act upon. As little as a mobile number – with no name and no address. A shade more than “white van man” – just a shade.
How does HMRC do this?
They use their software called CONNECT.
I have had the software demonstrated to me; it’s impressive. And it is still being expanded to achieve more.
It can take months of work for HMRC to build a case, especially if the starting point is a mobile phone number. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a breakthrough in progress could happen at any time. By using other complementary investigative software, links can be established previously unseen. One thing leads to another, then another.
Is the tax investigation on a civil or criminal basis?
Either way, it can change in an instant. Most taxpayers would want anything done on a civil basis. But HMRC must decide based on the supporting evidence.
The longer the matter is left unresolved, arguably the more evidence can be established.
The merits of making a Disclosure to HMRC
HMRC may not have committed themselves in one way or another yet. So, a timely Disclosure may be the best way forward.
I accept that in this brief article, we have gone from an isolated mobile phone number to making a Disclosure in short order. But in my experience, that is how HMRC can work too. Why commit to the cost of a criminal investigation lasting years that may or may not succeed in a conviction?
I can be instructed by a solicitor to maintain privilege.
Help is at hand
Any initial consultation is free, whether face-to-face, in person, by video, or by phone. Call me on 07979 313 010 to discuss the problem.