COP9 investigations and the Contractual Disclosure Facility
The most serious civil route HMRC operates. Strict deadlines, significant consequences, and a response that should not be sent without specialist advice.
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If you have received a COP9 letter, take specialist advice before responding to HMRC in any form — including a holding reply, a telephone call, or an amended return.
What COP9 means
HMRC issues Code of Practice 9 where it suspects tax fraud: that deliberate conduct has brought about a loss of tax. It is a civil procedure rather than a criminal one, but it is offered precisely because HMRC regards the matter as serious.
The letter will offer you the Contractual Disclosure Facility. In broad terms, that is a contract: a complete and accurate disclosure of the deliberate conduct, made within the terms offered, in exchange for HMRC undertaking not to pursue a criminal investigation into the conduct disclosed.
COP8 or COP9: which letter is it?
COP8 is used where HMRC suspects significant tax loss but does not suspect fraud. COP9 is used where it suspects fraud. The two are handled very differently, and a COP8 enquiry can move to COP9 if HMRC comes to a different view of the conduct. If you are unsure which you have received, our COP8 page and the guide to identifying your HMRC letterare the place to start.
Why the first move matters more here than anywhere else
Accepting the offer, rejecting it, and allowing the response period to lapse each carry different and significant consequences. So does a partial or inaccurate disclosure made inside the facility, which can remove the protection the facility was entered into for.
There is no version of this in which acting quickly without advice is the safer option. The response window exists to be used for taking advice, not for drafting.
What happens in a COP9 investigation
Every matter differs, but a COP9 investigation broadly moves through these stages.
- The offer letter. HMRC writes offering the Contractual Disclosure Facility and sets a response deadline, commonly 60 days.
- The response. Accepting the offer means making an outline disclosure: a description of the deliberate conduct that brought about the loss of tax. Rejecting it, or not responding, leaves HMRC free to decide how to proceed, which can include a criminal investigation.
- The opening meeting. HMRC will usually offer a meeting to discuss the outline disclosure and the scope of the work. Attending is a choice with its own considerations.
- The disclosure report. A full disclosure report is prepared covering all irregularities, not only those HMRC raised, together with the supporting calculations. It is usually signed with a certificate of full disclosure and a statement of assets.
- Settlement. The matter normally concludes with a contract settlement covering the tax, interest and penalties due.
If you do not believe your conduct was deliberate
A COP9 letter means HMRC suspects tax fraud, not that it has been established. If the facts do not support that, the response needs particular care, because what is said at this stage frames everything that follows. It is exactly the kind of decision that should be made with advice rather than alone.
What we do
- Read the letter and confirm precisely what has been offered and by when
- Establish the facts before any position is taken with HMRC
- Advise on the response in light of your actual circumstances, not a general rule
- Where the facility is entered into, prepare the disclosure to the standard required
- Manage correspondence and meetings through to settlement
- Tell you plainly if the matter needs specialist counsel rather than us
What we will not do
We will not advise you to accept or reject a CDF offer on the basis of anything short of the facts. We will not tell you what the outcome will be, because nobody honestly can. And we will not take on a matter that belongs with a specialist investigations practice or with counsel.
A note on urgency. Every other page on this site tells you not to rush. This one tells you not to wait. Both are the same advice: get the letter in front of someone who handles them, quickly, and let the reply be considered.
Further reading
Common questions
What is Code of Practice 9?
COP9 sets out the Contractual Disclosure Facility, which HMRC offers where it suspects tax fraud: that deliberate conduct has brought about a loss of tax. It is a civil process, but it exists because HMRC is considering conduct it regards as serious.
What is the Contractual Disclosure Facility?
The CDF is a contractual arrangement. In broad terms, if you make a complete and accurate disclosure of the deliberate conduct within the terms offered, HMRC undertakes not to pursue a criminal investigation into the conduct disclosed. The terms and deadlines are strict, and the consequences of how you respond are significant.
How long do I have to respond to a COP9 offer?
The offer carries a strict response window stated in the letter, commonly 60 days. Both accepting and rejecting have serious consequences, and so does letting the period lapse. This is the single strongest case on this site for taking advice immediately rather than after the weekend.
Should I accept or reject the offer?
That is not a question anyone can answer from a website, and we would not try. It depends entirely on the facts of your position. What we can say is that it should not be answered without specialist advice, and not on the basis of general information found online.
Will you take on a COP9 matter?
We assess each COP9 matter individually and will tell you plainly if it needs specialist counsel or a larger investigations team rather than us. Being told to go elsewhere is a better outcome than being taken on by a practice that should have said no.
Can I use the Contractual Disclosure Facility without an HMRC letter?
Yes. Someone who needs to disclose deliberate conduct can ask HMRC to use the CDF before HMRC makes contact, using HMRC's form CDF1. Whether that is the right route, rather than another kind of disclosure, depends on the facts and is worth deciding with advice.
Start with the letter
Send a photo of page one on WhatsApp. We will tell you what it is, what the deadline means, and what a fixed fee would look like — within one working hour during office hours — Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
We only need the letter. Please do not send bank statements, identity documents or your UTR at this stage.