CH206275 - How to do a compliance check: starting a compliance check: recording compliance identifier on departmental systems
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-01)


This page and chapter are under review as the relevant content is also published in the technical guidance chapters of the Compliance Handbook (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/compliance-handbook), within Compliance checks factsheets (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hm-revenue-and-customs-compliance-checks-factsheets) and in Compliance checks guidance (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmrc-compliance-checks-help-and-support). If you use particular pages regularly, please email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) to let us know the specific content you find useful.

Once the case has been authorised and allocated to you by your manager, you must record your interest on the appropriate Head of Duty (HOD) system for your business area. This will help colleagues in other customer groups and directorates to identify your interest in a case and to know who to contact if needed.

You should record your interest using your case identifier. Your case identifier will take the following format:

Compliance Check Directorate/customer group/PID of manager/PID of caseworker

For example, if you work in Mid-size Business (MSB) your case identifier will be made up as follows:

Compliance Check WMBC/MSB/1234567/8910112

If you work in a further sub-team, such as Hidden Economy (HE) or National Minimum Wage (NMW), you may need to add details of the sub-team. Your identifier should take the following format:

Compliance Check WMBC/CPCE/PBG/PID of manager/PID of caseworker

The system in which you record your interest will depend on the type of compliance check. For example for a
- Self Assessment check, enter your case identifier in the ‘Free Format notes’ space in ‘Case Summary’ on the SA system
- Corporation Tax check, enter your case identifier in ‘Case notes’ on the COTAX system
- Employer Compliance case, enter your case identifier in the Employer Business Service (EBS) system, in the ‘Compliance review’ field in ‘View Employer Notes’
- Construction Industry case, enter your case identifier in the CISr system: for Contractors select 'Update Customer - Scheme Details window; for Sub-contractors select 'Update Customer - Supplementary Details' window
- VAT check, enter your case identifier in the body of ‘User Interest’ in Electronic Folder (EF) when you set it.
Some systems, for example EBS, only have limited field space for this information. Where this is the case you should omit the words ‘Compliance check’ from the identifier. But where there is enough space you must give the information in full.

You must update the case identifier if a case is handed over to you by a colleague.

You must remember to remove your user interest details from your HOD system when
- your compliance check is completed, or
- if you decide to reject the case and not commence a check.
Please note: when you close an enquiry, heads of duty are not updated. You need to go in to that head of duty, cancel the EIP signal and update case notes.

COTAX notes cannot be amended or deleted. Therefore you must add a supplementary note once the case is closed or when a case is handed over to you by a colleague.