Corporate report

Information about the list

Updated 19 September 2024

1. Details included in the list of people involved in transactions connected with VAT fraud

The list includes details of:

• VAT traders where, in consequence of an investigation the trader has been found liable to one or more penalties under section 69C VAT Act 1994 and the amount of VAT on which that penalty has been calculated is greater than £50,000
• company officers who have been made personally liable to pay a section 69C penalty charged on a company

A section 69C penalty may be charged where it is established that a trader knew, or should have known, that they were entering into transactions connected with VAT fraud.

The list relates to persons who’ve been dealt with using civil proceedings. It does not contain convicted tax criminals, who will have been found guilty of a criminal offence in open court and therefore the verdict and sentence is a matter of public record. In many cases where tax criminals have been successfully prosecuted, HMRC releases details of the case and those convicted in a press release.

Where the publication criteria have been met, the law allows HMRC to publish some or all of the following:

• the name of the person who incurs the penalty including any trading name, previous name or pseudonym
• the person’s address (or registered office, in the case of a company)
• the nature of any business carried on by the person
• the amount of the penalty or penalties in question
• the periods or time to which the actions giving rise to the penalty or penalties relate.
• any other details that HMRC considers necessary in order to make the person’s identity clear

Company officer liability

HMRC may also publish information about the officer of a company. If the amount, or the aggregate amount of the section 69C penalties which the officer is liable to pay exceeds £25,000, HMRC may publish information about the officer. This may include all or some of the following:

• the officer’s name
• the officer’s address
• the officer’s position (or former position) in the company
• the amount of any penalty imposed on the company of which a portion is payable by the officer
• the periods or times to which the actions giving rise to any such penalty relate
• any other information that HMRC consider it appropriate to publish in order to make clear the officer’s identity

The information for each entry will vary. The law only allows HMRC to publish the minimum amount of information required to provide a unique identification for the taxpayer. This will vary from case to case.

2. Dates and time periods

Penalties under section 69C are generally charged for the VAT return period in which the transactions arose.

3. Addresses

The address is the one associated with the published person at the time of the transactions. The address may refer to a business address or a home address. Where possible we’ll normally publish the address from which the business is and/or was operated, rather than the home address. We’ll publish home addresses (including registered offices for companies) where publishing a business address would not clearly identify the taxpayer.

The person may have become insolvent or may no longer be trading, there may now be an unrelated business trading from the address which has no connection to the published business. Including ‘formerly’ in the address line is to clarify that the published person is no longer trading from that address.

4. When the list is published, and for how long

The persons details will be held on GOV.UK and removed no later than 36 months of the penalty becoming final or where more than one penalty is involved, no later than 36 months of the date when the latest penalty became final.

To ensure that new information is published promptly and that no information is published for longer than 36 months, HMRC will review the list on a regular basis. Usually this will mean that any changes will be made on a quarterly basis.

HMRC can only publish details regarding penalties that apply to transactions taking place on or after 16 November 2017.

5. Detailed guidance

Read about publishing the details of those involved in transactions connected with VAT Fraud.

6. Report a tax cheat

You can tell HMRC about a tax cheat.