ABSTRACT
Part 3 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 creates two corporate criminal offences for cases where a person associated with a company or partnership facilitates the commission by another person of a tax evasion offence. The first offence, set out in section 45, applies where UK tax is involved. The second offence, set out in section 46, applies where foreign tax is involved. The Explanatory Notes provide a steer that suggests that a causal link needs to be shown between the activities of the company or partnership and the nature of tax which the tax is evading. Much more difficult, especially in the context of the two new criminal offences, is the practical application of the distinction drawn in English law between tax avoidance, which even in its most aggressive form is a lawful activity, and tax evasion, which constitutes a criminal act.
