Explanatory Notes

Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014

2014 asp 16

24 September 2014

The Act

Part 8 – Penalties

Chapter 2 — Penalties for Failure to Make Returns Or Pay Tax
Penalties under Chapter 2: general
Section 175 – Reduction in penalty under sections 159 to 167 for disclosure

211.This section provides for Revenue Scotland to be able to reduce a penalty applied due to a failure to make a return. This applies only where a person discloses information to Revenue Scotland which has been previously withheld by the failure to submit a tax return. Any reductions applied may reflect whether or not the disclosure was unprompted (where the person has no reason to believe that Revenue Scotland is or is about to discover the information) and also the quality (timing, nature and extent) of the information disclosed. By timing this refers to how promptly the disclosure was made; by nature this refers to the level of evidence provided and the degree of access to test the disclosure; by extent this means how complete the disclosure may be.