SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 25Penalties for deliberately withholding information
PART 2Liability to a penalty
Reductions for disclosure
I17
1
Paragraph 8 provides for reductions in the penalty under this Schedule where the person discloses information which has been withheld by a failure to make a return (“relevant information”).
2
A person discloses relevant information that involves a domestic matter by—
a
telling HMRC about it,
b
giving HMRC reasonable help in quantifying any tax unpaid by reason of its having been withheld, and
c
allowing HMRC access to records for the purpose of checking how much tax is so unpaid.
3
A person discloses relevant information that involves an offshore matter or an offshore transfer by—
a
telling HMRC about it,
b
giving HMRC reasonable help in quantifying any tax unpaid by reason of its having been withheld,
c
allowing HMRC access to records for the purpose of checking how much tax is so unpaid, and
d
providing HMRC with additional information.
4
The Treasury must make regulations setting out what is meant by “additional information” for the purposes of sub-paragraph (3)(d).
5
Disclosure of relevant information—
a
is “unprompted” if made at a time when the person has no reason to believe that HMRC have discovered or are about to discover the relevant information, and
b
otherwise, is “prompted”.
6
In relation to disclosure “quality” includes timing, nature and extent.
7
Paragraph 4(4) to (6) applies to determine whether relevant information involves an offshore matter, an offshore transfer or a domestic matter.
I28
1
If a person who would otherwise be liable to a penalty of a percentage shown in column 1 of the Table in this paragraph (a “standard percentage”) has made a disclosure, HMRC must reduce the standard percentage to one that reflects the quality of the disclosure.
2
But the standard percentage may not be reduced to a percentage that is below the minimum shown for it—
a
in the case of a prompted disclosure, in column 2 of the Table, and
b
in the case of an unprompted disclosure, in column 3 of the Table.
Standard percentage | Minimum percentage for prompted disclosure | Minimum percentage for unprompted disclosure |
|---|---|---|
70% | 45% | 30% |
100% | 60% | 40% |
105% | 62.5% | 40% |
140% | 80% | 50% |
150% | 85% | 55% |
200% | 110% | 70% |
3
But HMRC must not under this paragraph reduce a penalty below £300.