Section 190 | Offence of concealing information

(1)A recipient of an information notice commits an offence if the recipient conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of information that is required to be provided under the notice.

(2)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to show that they concealed, destroyed or otherwise disposed of the information only after the information had been provided in accordance with the notice.

(3)Subsection (2) does not apply where an officer of Revenue and Customs had notified the person in writing that the information must continue to be available (and had not withdrawn that notification).

(4)A person commits an offence if—

(a)an officer of Revenue and Customs has notified the person under section 180(3) that—

(i)the officer intends to issue an information notice to the person, and

(ii)certain information would be required under the notice, and

(b)the person conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of the information.

(5)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (4) to show that they concealed, destroyed or otherwise disposed of the information only—

(a)after the end of the period of six months beginning with the day on which they were last notified under section 180(3) in respect of the information, or

(b)after an information notice has been issued to the person in respect of the information.

(6)In this section, a reference to concealing, destroying or otherwise disposing of information includes a reference to arranging for the concealment, destruction or disposal of information.

(7)This section does not apply in respect of a notice under section 183 (financial institutions).