CH180140 | Dishonest tax agents: commencement date

We can only charge penalties for dishonest conduct under this guidance where the dishonest conduct occurs on or after 1 April 2013.

However, we can issue a file access notice after 1 April 2013 requesting documents that existed before 1 April 2013. We can request these earlier documents to allow us to consider the full extent of the dishonest conduct and to provide the basis for recovering the lost tax.

We cannot use these earlier documents to help quantify the amount of any penalty for dishonest conduct. If new evidence of dishonesty arises that was unknown at the time of the conduct notice this will have to be considered under other powers, including our right to investigate criminally.

Note: All file access notices must be approved by the tribunal, see CH182520.

The legislation replaces section 20A and section 99 of the Taxes Management Act 1970, and extends to all taxes, duties and NICs administered by HMRC, except tax credits and customs duty.(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)

FA12/SCH38