When a client asks you to backdate documents

A document that claims to have been made on a date when it was not is a false instrument under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, and using it to gain a tax or other advantage can be forgery, fraud or false accounting. You should refuse to prepare or sign one. What you can do is record honestly, with the real date of signing, a decision or agreement that genuinely happened earlier.

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Why is backdating a document a problem?

Section 9(1)(g) of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 says an instrument is false if it purports to have been made or altered on a date on which, or at a place at which, or otherwise in circumstances in which, it was not in fact made or altered. Section 1 makes it forgery to make a false instrument intending that it be accepted as genuine and that someone acts or fails to act to their own or another’s prejudice because of it. HMRC accepting a dividend minute at face value, and so collecting less tax, is the kind of prejudice the Act has in mind.

Other offences can apply alongside forgery:

Fraud by false representation under section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006, where someone dishonestly makes a false representation intending to make a gain or cause a loss. A representation can be express or implied, and a document’s date is a representation of fact. Section 1 sets a maximum sentence of 10 years on indictment.
False accounting under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968, where someone dishonestly falsifies a record made or required for an accounting purpose, with a view to gain or intent to cause loss. The maximum on indictment is seven years.
False statements to Companies House under section 1112 of the Companies Act 2006, which makes it an offence to deliver a document to the registrar that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular.

The offences above need dishonesty or an intention to deceive. A typing error in a date is not a crime. But a request to “put last March’s date on it” so that a tax result follows is exactly the intent these offences target.

What risks does the accountant face?

An accountant who prepares or knowingly files a backdated document is not just a bystander.

Professional ethics. Paragraph R111.2 of the ICAEW Code says a professional accountant must not knowingly be associated with reports, returns, communications or other information that contain a materially false or misleading statement. PCRT paragraph 2.4 requires members to act straightforwardly and honestly with clients and tax authorities and do nothing knowingly or carelessly that might mislead.
Tax penalties on the adviser. Paragraph 1A of Schedule 24 to the Finance Act 2007 makes a person liable to a penalty where another person gives HMRC an inaccurate document and the inaccuracy was due to the first person deliberately supplying false information with the intention that the document be inaccurate.
Sanctionable conduct. Since 1 April 2026, Schedule 38 to the Finance Act 2012 says a tax adviser engages in sanctionable conduct if, in acting as a tax adviser, they do something intending to bring about a loss of tax revenue, whether or not the client instructed it. Paragraph 2 counts helping with any document likely to be relied on by HMRC as assisting with tax affairs. Paragraph 26 sets the penalty at the appropriate percentage of potential lost revenue or £7,500 if higher, capped at £1,000,000.
Money laundering. PCRT Help Sheet C1 reminds members that once they are aware of a possible error or offence they must bear in mind the money laundering legislation and the duties it places on them. See tax evasion as money laundering.

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What kinds of backdating do clients ask for?

Requests usually arrive close to a deadline or after HMRC has asked a question. Common ones include:

Dividend paperwork. Board minutes and vouchers for dividends that were simply drawn from the bank during the year, prepared after the year end with dates spread across it. See dividend vouchers and minutes and how to pay dividends legally.
Salary sacrifice and pay changes. GOV.UK guidance says that to be satisfied a change has been effective at the right time and not applied retrospectively, HMRC would need to see evidence such as the variation of the employee’s terms and conditions. A contract variation dated before it was agreed fails that test.
Contracts and loan agreements. Agreements between a company and its director, or between connected businesses, prepared to support a tax treatment already taken.
Invoices. Invoices dated into an earlier period to accelerate a deduction or VAT recovery.
Share transactions. Board minutes and stock transfer forms dated before the decision was made, often to fit a valuation date or a relief condition, and then filed at Companies House.

How do you document a past decision properly?

The question to ask is whether the decision or agreement actually happened at the earlier date. If it did, you can record it truthfully now. What makes a document false under section 9 is claiming it was made at a time it was not, not describing an earlier event.

Late minutes of a real meeting. Section 248 of the Companies Act 2006 requires minutes of directors’ meetings to be recorded and kept for at least ten years from the date of the meeting. Minutes are often written up after the meeting. If the directors really met and decided on the earlier date, minutes can record that meeting and its date accurately; where they are prepared much later, say so. Section 249 makes properly made minutes evidence that the meeting was held and proceedings took place, until the contrary is proved, which is why they must be accurate.
A memorandum of an earlier agreement. Where parties agreed terms orally, a document signed and dated when actually signed can say that it records an agreement reached on the earlier date. Section 231 recognises this approach for contracts between a single member company and its sole member director, requiring the terms to be set out in a written memorandum or recorded in the minutes of the next directors’ meeting if the contract is not in writing.
“With effect from” wording. A document can be dated when signed and state that the parties intend it to take effect from an earlier date. That is honest about when it was signed, but it does not change the tax position by itself. Where the law looks at what had been agreed at a particular time, a retrospective effective date may not achieve what the client wants.

Our guide to board minutes explains the formal requirements.

What if no decision was actually made at the time?

Then there is nothing to record, and the honest position must be dealt with as it is. If directors took money without declaring a dividend, the payments may need to be treated as something else, such as a loan or remuneration, with the tax consequences that follow. If a contract was not agreed until later, it takes effect from when it was agreed. These outcomes may cost the client more, but a false document turns a tax or company law problem into a potential crime, and HMRC and the courts can test dates through email metadata, bank records and witness evidence.

How should you respond to the client?

Explain clearly, and in writing, that you cannot prepare, sign or file a document that misstates when it was made, and why.
Find out what actually happened and when, and offer to document it honestly.
Advise on the real tax and company law position, including any corrections needed. If the request reveals a past error, follow the approach in PCRT Help Sheet C1: tell the client, seek authority to correct, and record the advice.
If the client insists, or you discover a backdated document has already been used, consider whether you can continue to act and whether a suspicious activity report is required. See suspicious activity reports for accountants.
Keep a file note of the request and your response. It protects you if the document later appears from another source.

Help Sheet C1 warns members to take care not to appear to be assisting a client to plan or commit a criminal offence or to conceal one. The PCRT standards apply to all tax work.

How might this work in practice?

Illustration only. After the year end, a director tells you he took £30,000 from the company in quarterly amounts and asks you to produce four dated dividend minutes. You ask whether the board met or made any written decision at the time. He says not. You explain that you cannot produce minutes dated in the past for meetings that did not happen. You review whether the company had distributable profits, explain the alternatives, including treating the withdrawals as a director’s loan with the related tax charges, and document the advice. For future years you agree a simple process: a dated decision recorded at the time of each dividend.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 19 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.