Finance Act 2022

Penalty for possession etc of an electronic sales suppression tool U.K.

6 (1) A person (“P”) is liable to a penalty not exceeding £1,000 if—

(a) P is in possession of, or has otherwise obtained access to, an electronic sales suppression tool, and

(b) condition 1 or 2 applies.

(2) Condition 1 is that—

(a) HMRC has notified P in writing that an officer of Revenue and Customs has reason to believe that P is in possession of, or has otherwise obtained access to, an electronic sales suppression tool, and

(b) P has not, within the period of 30 days beginning with the day on which the notice is given, satisfied an officer of Revenue and Customs that P is not (or is no longer) in possession of, and does not otherwise have access to, an electronic sales suppression tool.

(3) Condition 2 is that P has been assessed to an electronic sales suppression penalty within the period of five years ending with the first day on which an officer of Revenue and Customs has reason to believe that P may be liable to a penalty under this paragraph.

(4) For the purposes of this paragraph and paragraph 7—

(a) a person is in possession of an electronic sales suppression tool if the person possesses the tool in any manner;

(b) a person has access to an electronic sales suppression tool if the tool is available to the person to use to suppress a relevant electronic sales record;

(c) a person obtains access to an electronic sales suppression tool if the person takes any steps to have access to the tool.

(5) Accordingly, a person may be in possession of, or otherwise have access to, an electronic sales suppression tool whether or not—

(a) the person owns the tool,

(b) the person only has access to the tool remotely, or

(c) other persons also have access to the tool.

(6) Liability to a penalty under this paragraph does not arise if P has been assessed to a penalty under paragraph 2 or 3 in respect of the electronic sales suppression tool that P is in possession of, or has otherwise obtained access to.

(7) Liability to a penalty under this paragraph does not arise if P satisfies HMRC or (on appeal) the tribunal that P was unaware that the tool that P was in possession of, or had otherwise obtained access to, was an electronic sales suppression tool.