17. After Regulation 27 A in Schedule 1 (specified amount of earnings-related contributions payable by the employer)(1) there shall be inserted the following Regulation—
(1) If after 14 days following the date which applies to him under Regulation 26 C (1) or (2) the employer has paid no amount of Class 1 A contributions to the Collector in respect of the preceding year, despite demand being made, and there is reason to believe that the employer is liable so to pay, the Collector—
(a)in the case of the first year in which the employer is liable to pay such contributions, upon consideration of any information which has been provided to him by the employer relating to the liability of the employer to pay such contributions, or
(b)thereafter, upon consideration of the employer’s record of past payments, may to the best of his judgement specify the amount of Class 1A contributions which he considers the employer is liable to pay and give notice to him of that amount.
(2) If, on the expiration of the period of 7 days allowed in the notice, the specified amount of Class 1 A contributions or any part thereof is unpaid, the amount so unpaid shall be certified by the Collector and shall be deemed, for the purposes of these Regulations, to be an amount of Class 1 A contributions which the employer was liable to pay in respect of that year in accordance with Regulation 26 C (1) or (2).
(3) The provisions of paragraph (2) of this Regulation shall not apply if, during the period allowed in the notice, the employer pays to the Collector the full amount of Class 1 A contributions which the employer is liable to pay under Regulation 26 C (1) or (2) in respect of that year, or the employer satisfies the Collector that no amount of such contributions is due.
(5) A notice may be given by the Collector under paragraph (1) of this Regulation not withstanding that an amount of Class 1 A contributions has been paid to him by the employer under Regulation 26C(1) or (2) in respect of the year in question, if, after seeking the employer’s explanation as to the amount of Class 1A contributions paid, the Collector is not satisfied that the amount so paid is the full amount which the employer is liable to pay to him in respect of that year, and the provisions of this Regulation shall have effect accordingly, save that paragraph (2) of this Regulation shall not apply if, during the period allowed in the said notice, the employer satisfies the Collector that no further amount of Class 1 A contributions is due in respect of that year.
(6) Where, during the period allowed in a notice given by the Collector under paragraph (1) of this Regulation, the employer claims, but does not satisfy the Collector, that the payment of Class 1 A contributions made in respect of the year specified the rein is the full amount of Class 1 A contributions which he is liable to pay to the Collector in respect of that year, the employer may require the Collector to inspect the employer’s documents and records as if the Collector had called upon the employer to produce those documents and records in accordance with Regulation 32(1); and the provisions of Regulation 32 shall apply in relation to that inspection and the notice given by the Collector under paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall thereafter be disregarded.
(7) Notwithstanding anything in this Regulation, if the employer pays an amount of Class 1 A contributions certified by the Collector under this Regulation and that amount exceeds the amount which he would have been liable to pay in respect of the preceding year apart from this Regulation, he shall be entitled to set off such excess against any amount of secondary earnings-related contributions which he is liable to pay to the Collector under Regulation 26 or 26 A subsequently for any income tax period in the year in which he has paid the amount of Class 1A contributions certified by the Collector under this Regulation.”.