TTOG11310 | Civil Investigation of Fraud (Code 9): historical record: preliminaries to the opening meeting: initial approach to the taxpayer and form of the invitation letter

Once a case has been authorised for registration under CIF the taxpayer should be sent a letter of invitation to attend an opening meeting as soon as it is practically possible.

The form of the invitation will vary depending upon the nature of the case and its previous history. In all cases the invitation to the opening meeting should be sent to the taxpayer direct, with a copy to his or her authorised professional advisor. You may wish to consider using registered post in appropriate circumstances.

The invitation letter should cover matters such as date, place of meeting, rights and indicate if our concerns lie with indirect taxes or direct taxes or both. A Code of Practice 9 should accompany the letter.

For direct taxes, you should consider whether Self Assessment enquiry notices are required.

At this stage you should also issue the factsheet dealing with the policy of publishing the names of deliberate defaulters, CC/FS13.