In its response to the HMRC consultation, 'Tackling offshore evasion: a new criminal offence', the Law Society said that while it supports HMRC’s objective of deterring tax evasion, introducing a new strict liability offence is not the answer.

The Law Society points out that the types of matters for which strict liability offences are considered appropriate are where prohibition is linked to the prevention of physical harm or where the cost of increasing the rate of detection as a means of deterrence is outweighed by the potential gains. The policy as proposed meets neither of these criteria.