Talking tax: HMRC words and meanings
Struggling to understand the jargon? Check out this easy-to-understand glossary of terms used by HMRC, or agencies such as the National Crime Agency who use HMRC’s powers.
Negotiating the language of HMRC can be like picking your way through a minefield. If you don’t see what you need, or you’re still unsure about what something means or its significance to your situation, call InTAX now in confidence for a no-obligation chat. Speak to an advisor.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CDF | Contractual Disclosure Facility – the tax investigation process conducted under Code of Practice 9 |
| CoP 8 | Tax investigations into fraud and bespoke avoidance that are not conducted under Code of Practice 9 |
| CoP 9 | HMRC’s Code of Practice 9 – tax investigations into fraud, usually settled on a civil basis. Sometimes called the Contractual Disclosure Facility (CDF) |
| Determination | An amount of money that HMRC decides a person owes. Can relate to tax, NIC or penalties. Tax determinations cannot be appealed, but they can be ‘displaced’ subject to time limits. |
| Assessment | An amount of money that HMRC decides a person owes. Can usually be appealed subject to time limits. |
| IR35 | The legislation used to determine whether a person working through a personal service company is actually an employee of their ultimate client and should pay tax under the PAYE rules. |
| GAAR | General Anti Abuse Rule |
| LDF | Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility |
| MDD | Managing Deliberate Defaulters. |
| PDDD | Publishing Details of Deliberate Tax Defaulters |
| Tax Avoidance | Legal tax planning, sometimes considered ‘not to be within the spirit of tax law’ |
| Tax Evasion | Minimising tax payable through illegal methods |
| Tax Enquiry | Essentially another name for Tax Investigation |
| Compliance Check | A tax enquiry that often looks at real time processes and procedures. |
| DOTAS | Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme |
| FATCA | Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – requires US residents to report their financial accounts held outside the US, and foreign financial institutions to report their clients to the US authorities. |