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HMRC Fraud
Investigation
Service (FIS)

Specialist representation for individuals and businesses under investigation by the part of HMRC that handles its most serious civil and criminal cases.
The Fraud Investigation Service handles HMRC’s most serious and complex civil and criminal investigations. If your correspondence is coming from FIS rather than a local compliance office, that is significant. FIS takes on cases involving substantial sums, complex structures, or suspected deliberate behaviour.
It also holds HMRC’s criminal investigation function. FIS conducts both civil investigations, which conclude with tax, interest and penalties, and criminal investigations, which can lead to prosecution. Establishing which of the two applies to you is the first and most important question.

How FIS investigations are structured

FIS operates through three main routes.
Code of Practice 8
A civil investigation where fraud is not suspected, used for complex or high value cases, typically involving avoidance and offshore arrangements.
Code of Practice 9
A civil investigation where fraud is suspected, conducted under the Contractual Disclosure Facility. You admit and disclose the conduct, and HMRC agrees not to prosecute in respect of it.
Criminal investigation
Where HMRC investigates with prosecution in mind. A minority of cases, but the consequences are of a different order.
The large majority of FIS work is civil. HMRC’s stated position is that it deals with fraud civilly wherever it can, reserving criminal investigation for cases where prosecution serves as a necessary deterrent.

How an FIS investigation differs

Resourcing
FIS investigators are experienced specialists who often work a single case over a period of years, rather than processing a caseload at volume.

Powers
The full range of HMRC’s information powers, together with search, seizure and arrest powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 in the criminal arena.

Data
FIS draws on HMRC’s Connect system, international information exchange agreements, financial institution reporting and third-party data. In practice, it is safest to assume HMRC knows more than the opening letter suggests.

Reach
FIS pursues offshore matters as a matter of course. The extended twelve-year assessment window for offshore matters, and twenty years for deliberate behaviour, means historic positions remain firmly in scope.

FIS investigators

What to do if FIS contacts you

Do not respond substantively before taking advice. Acknowledging receipt is appropriate. Answering questions is not, because early answers are difficult to retract.

Do not destroy, alter or reorganise any records. Beyond being an offence in its own right, it is one of the quickest ways to turn a civil case into a criminal one.

Establish which route you are on. Code of Practice 8, Code of Practice 9 and criminal investigation each call for a completely different response.

Obtain representation with genuine FIS experience. This is not general practice work.

How we act

Bracey’s tax investigations team includes a former HMRC inspector with over 20 years of relevant experience, now leading on tax enquiry work at Bracey’s. In practice, that means we can usually tell you how HMRC is likely to be approaching your file, what it is likely to hold already, and which arguments will and will not succeed, because we have conducted these cases from the other side.
We take over all correspondence, control what is provided and when, build the technical and factual case, and negotiate the settlement. Where a case carries genuine criminal exposure, we work alongside specialist criminal solicitors, whose role is distinct from ours.

Frequently asked questions

Does FIS involvement mean I am being prosecuted?

No. The majority of FIS cases remain civil throughout.

Is there a minimum size before FIS becomes involved?

There is no published threshold, but FIS cases characteristically involve substantial sums, commonly six figures and above.

Can I change accountants during an investigation?

Yes, and it happens frequently once a case escalates beyond what a general practice is equipped to handle.

Will my existing accountant be told?

Not by us. We can act entirely separately if that is your preference.
Get in touch
If FIS has contacted you, please speak to us before you respond. The first consultation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.

mail@braceys-accountants.co.uk

01462 413249

Or book a free 30-minute consultation online.
Code of Practice 9
Code of Practice 8
Criminal Tax Investigations