Jump in sentences for tax evasion

The average length of prison sentences for UK tax fraud hit a new high of 5.3 years last year up 66% from 3.2 years in 2018 as HMRC intensifies its crackdown on tax crime says Pinsent Masons.

Since the global financial crisis tax evasion has been viewed as a more egregious offence with increasing sentence lengths for tax evasion matching increasing concerns about tax evasion amongst the broader public.

HMRC has in recent years shifted its focus to combating the most serious forms of tax fraud. As part of these efforts HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) was set up in 2015 to bring criminal charges and major civil penalties in the largest and most complex cases of tax fraud. It is playing a key role today in achieving longer sentences for tax fraudsters.

New legislation could push the average sentence length for tax fraud even higher in the...