Section 31 – Penalties under section 30: appeals and enforcement
143.Section 31(1) provides that a person who gets a penalty notice relating to an assessor information notice may appeal to a valuation appeal committee. An appeal must be made within 28 days of the day on which the penalty notice is given.
144.Where an appeal is made and the appellant has incurred further penalties under section 30(4) or (5) for continued non-compliance with the assessor information notice, the appeal is, by virtue of subsection (3)(a), to be treated as including an appeal against the further penalties. Making an appeal does not prevent the appellant becoming liable to further penalties (subsection (3)(b)).
145.The valuation appeal committee may cancel the penalty or reduce its amount if they think that the person had a reasonable excuse for not complying with the notice or that the information that the notice asks for is not in the person’s possession or control (subsections (4) and (5)).
146.Under subsection (7), the Scottish Ministers may make regulations to make further provision about appeals under this section, including things like the procedure for appeals and whether penalties have to be paid while an appeal is pending. The regulations are subject to the negative procedure. Before making such regulations, the Scottish Ministers must consult such persons as they consider appropriate.
