The number of criminal investigations completed by HMRC has increased 11% to 386 from 347, says multinational law firm Pinsent Masons, in the year to September 2024.

The total length of prison sentences handed down for tax evasion and tax fraud have also increased – to 525 years in the past year, up from 503 years.

Steven Porter, Partner and Head of Tax disputes and Investigations at Pinsent Masons says that targeted criminal prosecutions of tax evaders is partly used by HMRC to act as a deterrent and to persuade tax evaders to use HMRC’s Contractual Disclosure Facility. This offers individuals immunity from criminal prosecution in return for a full disclosure of the tax evasion they have been involved with.

The maximum penalty for income tax evasion is a fourteen-year prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine. This had doubled from seven years in the Finance Act 2024.