Finance Act 2012

Penalty for dishonest conduct

26 (1) An individual who engages in dishonest conduct is liable to a penalty.

(2) Subject to paragraph 27, the penalty to which the individual is liable is to be—

(a) no less than £5,000, and

(b) no more than £50,000.

(3) In assessing the amount of the penalty, regard must be had to—

(a) whether the individual disclosed the dishonest conduct,

(b) whether that disclosure was prompted or unprompted,

(c) the quality of that disclosure, and

(d) the quality of the individual’s compliance with any file access notice in connection with the dishonest conduct.

(4) An individual “discloses” dishonest conduct by—

(a) telling HMRC about it,

(b) giving HMRC reasonable help in identifying the client or clients concerned and in quantifying the loss of tax revenue (if any) brought about by it, and

(c) allowing HMRC access to records for the purpose of ensuring that any such loss is recovered or otherwise properly accounted for.

(5) A disclosure is “unprompted” if it is made at a time when the individual has no reason to believe that HMRC have discovered or are about to discover the dishonest conduct.

(6) Otherwise, a disclosure is “prompted”.

(7) In relation to disclosure or compliance, “quality” includes timing, nature and extent.