Top HMRC Tax Investigation Solicitors Bark & Co Retained in a Fraudulent Claims Case Operation Portable for alleged false submissions to the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Relief Scheme
Renowned Expert HMRC Tax Investigation Law Firm Bark & Co, are acting for Ian Selby (IS) as one of eight individuals subject to an HMRC investigation into the submission of 85 fraudulent claims to the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Relief scheme between July 2015 and June 2020.
The alleged intention is causing a loss to HMRC of over £6.8m. All the claims under investigation were for loss-making companies, such that the R&D tax relief was converted to a payable tax credit. HMRC opened civil enquiries into some of the claims, and £3.1m of claim credits were withheld by HMRC as a result. A total of £3.7m was paid to the suspects by HMRC.
IS was a director of various claimant companies in whose name the principal suspect made allegedly fraudulent claims. He was issued with a personal liability notice by HMRC for £1,650,817 for deliberate inaccuracies in returns made by one particular company and knowingly participating in transaction chains linked to fraud; if successful, the R&D credit for that company would have met this personal liability notice. A search was undertaken of his home address in June 2023, with his computer and various documents seized.
