Value Added Tax Act 1994

69 Breaches of regulatory provisions

(1) If any person fails to comply with a regulatory requirement, that is to say, a requirement imposed under—

(a) paragraph 11 or 12 of Schedule 1, paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 or paragraph 5 of Schedule 3; or

(b) any regulations made under section 48 requiring a VAT representative, for the purposes of registration, to notify the Commissioners that his appointment has taken effect or has ceased to have effect; or

(c) paragraph 6(1) or 7 of Schedule 11; or

(d) any regulations or rules made under this Act, other than rules made under paragraph 9 of Schedule 12; or

(e) any order made by the Treasury under this Act; or

(f) any regulations made under the [1972 c. 68.] European Communities Act 1972 and relating to VAT,

he shall be liable, subject to subsections (8) and (9) below and section 76(6), to a penalty equal to the prescribed rate multiplied by the number of days on which the failure continues (up to a maximum of 100) or, if it is greater, to a penalty of £50.

(2) If any person fails to comply with a requirement to preserve records imposed under paragraph 6(3) of Schedule 11, he shall be liable, subject to the following provisions of this section, to a penalty of £500.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, in relation to a failure to comply with any regulatory requirement, the prescribed rate shall be determined by reference to the number of occasions in the period of 2 years preceding the beginning of the failure in question on which the person concerned has previously failed to comply with that requirement and, subject to the following provisions of this section, the prescribed rate shall be—

(a) if there has been no such previous occasion in that period, £5;

(b) if there has been only one such occasion in that period, £10; and

(c) in any other case, £15.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) above—

(a) a failure to comply with any regulatory requirement shall be disregarded if, as a result of the failure, the person concerned became liable for a surcharge under section 59;

(b) a continuing failure to comply with any such requirement shall be regarded as one occasion of failure occurring on the date on which the failure began;

(c) if the same omission gives rise to a failure to comply with more than one such requirement, it shall nevertheless be regarded as the occasion of only one failure; and

(d) in relation to a failure to comply with a requirement imposed by regulations as to the furnishing of a return or as to the payment of VAT, a previous failure to comply with such a requirement as to either of those matters shall be regarded as a previous failure to comply with the requirement in question.

(5) Where the failure referred to in subsection (1) above consists—

(a) in not paying the VAT due in respect of any period within the time required by regulations under section 25(1), or

(b) in not furnishing a return in respect of any period within the time required by regulations under paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 11,

the prescribed rate shall be whichever is the greater of that which is appropriate under subsection (3)(a) to (c) above and an amount equal to one-sixth, one-third or one-half of 1 per cent. of the VAT due in respect of that period, the appropriate fraction being determined according to whether subsection (3)(a), (b) or (c) above is applicable.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5) above, the VAT due—

(a) if the person concerned has furnished a return, shall be taken to be the VAT shown in the return as that for which he is accountable in respect of the period in question, and

(b) in any other case, shall be taken to be such VAT as has been assessed for that period and notified to him under section 73(1).

(7) If it appears to the Treasury that there has been a change in the value of money since 25th July 1985 or, as the case may be, the last occasion when the power conferred by this subsection was exercised, they may by order substitute for the sums for the time being specified in subsections (2) and (3)(a) to (c) above such other sums as appear to them to be justified by the change; but an order under this subsection shall not apply to a failure which began before the date on which the order comes into force.

(8) A failure by any person to comply with any regulatory requirement or the requirement referred to in subsection (2) above shall not give rise to liability to a penalty under this section if the person concerned satisfies the Commissioners or, on appeal, a tribunal that there is a reasonable excuse for the failure; and a failure in respect of which the Commissioners or tribunal have been so satisfied shall be disregarded for the purposes of subsection (3) above.

(9) Where, by reason of conduct falling within subsection (1) or (2) above—

(a) a person is convicted of an offence (whether under this Act or otherwise), or

(b) a person is assessed to a surcharge under section 59, or

(c) a person is assessed to a penalty under section 60 or 63,

that conduct shall not also give rise to liability to a penalty under this section.

(10) This section applies in relation to failures occurring before as well as after the commencement of this Act, and for that purpose any reference to any provision of this Act includes a reference to the corresponding provision of the enactments repealed by this Act.