C1Part XII General and Miscellaneous
General offences
C6C8C10170 Penalty for fraudulent evasion of duty, etc.
1
Without prejudice to any other provision of the Customs and Excise Acts 1979, if any person—
a
knowingly acquires possession of any of the following goods, that is to say—
i
goods which have been unlawfully removed from a warehouse or Queen’s warehouse;
ii
goods which are chargeable with a duty which has not been paid;
iii
goods with respect to the importation or exportation of which any prohibition or restriction is for the time being in force under or by virtue of any enactment; or
b
is in any way knowingly concerned in carrying, removing, depositing, harbouring, keeping or concealing or in any manner dealing with any such goods,
and does so with intent to defraud Her Majesty of any duty payable on the goods or to evade any such prohibition or restriction with respect to the goods he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and may be detained.
2
Without prejudice to any other provision of the Customs and Excise Acts 1979, if any person is, in relation to any goods, in any way knowingly concerned in any fraudulent evasion or attempt at evasion—
a
of any duty chargeable on the goods;
b
of any prohibition or restriction for the time being in force with respect to the goods under or by virtue of any enactment; or
c
of any provision of the Customs and Excise Acts 1979F15, or Part 1 or section 40A or 40B of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, applicable to the goods,
he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and may be detained.
3
Subject to subsection F1(4), (4A) F18or (4B) below, a person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
a
4
In the case of an offence under this section in connection with prohibition or restriction on importation or exportation having effect by virtue of section 3 of the M1Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, subsection (3) above shall have effect subject to the modifications specified in Schedule 1 to this Act.
F34A
In the case of—
a
an offence under F9subsection (1) or (2) above committed in Great Britain in connection with a prohibition or restriction on the importation or exportation of any weapon or ammunition that is of a kind mentioned in section 5(1)(a), (ab), (aba), (ac), (ad), (ae), (af) F16, (ag), (ba) or (c) or (1A)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968, F7or
b
any such offence committed in Northern Ireland in connection with a prohibition or restriction on the importation or exportation of any weapon or ammunition that is of a kind mentioned in F4Article 6(1)(a), (ab), (ac), (ad), (ae) or (c) or (1A)(a)F4Article 45(1)(a), F6 , (aa) (b), (c), (d), (e)F17, (ea), (fa) or (g) or (2)(a) of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order F52004, F8...
F8c
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F204AA
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F144B
In the case of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) above in connection with the prohibition contained in regulation 2 of the Import of Seal Skins Regulations 1996, subsection (3) above shall have effect as if–
a
for paragraph (a) there were substituted the following—
and
b
in paragraph (b) for the words “F2114 years” there were substituted the words “2 years”.
F224C
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5
In any case where a person would, apart from this subsection, be guilty of—
a
an offence under this section in connection with a prohibition or restriction; and
b
a corresponding offence under the enactment or other instrument imposing the prohibition or restriction, being an offence for which a fine or other penalty is expressly provided by that enactment or other instrument,
(b)a corresponding offence under the enactment or other instrument imposing the prohibition or restriction, being an offence for which a fine or other penalty is expressly provided by that enactment or other instrument, he shall not be guilty of the offence mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection.
F116
Where any person is guilty of an offence under this section, the goods in respect of which the offence was committed shall be liable to forfeiture.
Pt. XII amended by Customs and Excise Duties (General Reliefs) Act 1979 (c. 3), s. 15(4)