SCO is broadly divided into four main groups:
- The 'Avoidance Group' ( Code of Practice 8 - 'cases other than suspected serious fraud' )
- The 'Hansard Group' ( Code of Practice 9 - 'cases of suspected serious fraud' )
- The 'Insolvency Group' ( Code of Practice 8 or Code of Practice 9 )
- The 'Prosecution Group' ( Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984 )
The Office also houses the 'exchange of information' unit which operates within the terms of double taxation agreements, the European Community Mutual Assistance Directive and UK law. For the year 2001/02 the Unit received 809,049 items of information from other countries and issued 214,206.
There are a network of SCO offices situated in London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. There are geographical responsibilities for each of these offices with the country essentially being split to enable local tax offices to liaise with the nominated SCO office. Strangely for reasons of cost effectiveness and presumably demographic expedience, London is arbitrarily split between the London SCO and some of the other regional offices.
Investigations undertaken by the Inland Revenue SCO need to be taken seriously. Its officers are among the most experienced and should not be underestimated. The Office also utilises the full range of statutory information powers available, carries out raids and undertakes criminal prosecutions in the most serious of cases. For these reasons it is believed that whenever a practitioner, individual or company receives a letter or other contact with this Office that specialist advice should be taken immediately.