Implications Of The Criminal Finances Act 2017

On 30 September 2017, the Criminal Finances Act 2017 ("CFA") came into force in the UK introducing two new offences with regards to the facilitation of tax evasion. The first offence applies to businesses based anywhere in the world in relation to the facilitation of tax evasion in the UK. The second offence applies to businesses with a UK connection in relation to the facilitation of tax evasion abroad (where the conduct is criminal tax evasion both in the UK and the other jurisdiction).

Associated Persons

The CFA attributes strict liability to an entity's failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion committed by an associated person of the entity. This means that it is not necessary for the prosecution to establish that the entity being charged knew about the tax evasion and ignorance will not be a defence.