Guidance

Anti-avoidance information notices — CC/FS88

Published 8 April 2026

This factsheet tells you about the anti-avoidance information notice (AAIN) we may give you.

For the purpose of this factsheet, ‘information’ includes documents and ‘documents’ includes any part of a document. This may be held on anything in which information of any description is recorded. This includes any computer, hard drive, memory stick, flash drive, optical disc or other recording media.

This factsheet is one of a series. For the full list, go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC Compliance checks factsheets’.

What is an anti-avoidance information notice

An anti-avoidance information notice requires a person to provide information. A person who has been given an anti-avoidance information notice is legally required to provide us the information the notice asks for. If they do not do this, we may charge them penalties, and they might be committing a criminal offence.

The anti-avoidance information notice will tell you:

• what information you’ll need to send up
• how and when to give us what we’ve asked for
• about your appeal rights

When we use an anti-avoidance information notice

We’ll give an anti-avoidance information notice where we suspect a person is (any of the following):

• contravening anti-avoidance legislation
• connected to a person who is, or has been contravening anti-avoidance legislation
• connected to any arrangements where a person is or has been contravening anti-avoidance legislation

When we say:

• ‘contravening’ — we mean not complying with all aspects of
• ‘connected to a person’ —- we mean a relationship where (any of the following):
  • one holds any office or position, including being a member of or partner, in the other
  • both are related to the same trust in some capacity
  • one acts in accordance with the other’s directions or instructions
• ‘connected to any arrangements’— we mean (any of the following):
  • being involved to any extent in their organisation or management
  • making them available for implementation by others
  • benefiting from them, either directly or indirectly
• ‘arrangements’— we mean any agreement, scheme, arrangement or understanding of any kind whether or not legally enforceable involving one or more transactions, that could be used to avoid tax

In some circumstances, we may ask the independent tribunal to approve the issue of an anti-avoidance information notice. We’ll tell you if the notice we give you has been approved by the tribunal.

What we can ask for in an anti-avoidance information notice

We can ask for any information we believe is relevant to our check and it’s reasonable to ask for it.

What we can not ask for in an anti-avoidance information notice

We can not use an anti-avoidance information notice to ask for information:

• you do not have and you can not get it, or get copies, from whoever holds it
• relating to the conduct of a pending tax appeal or appeal against a decision under anti-avoidance legislation
• that is classed as ‘personal records’ under section 12 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, except where a notice requires you to produce a redacted version of a document omitting any information that would otherwise make it personal records
• that is classed as ‘journalistic material’ under section 13 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or information contained in such material
• for which you could maintain a claim to legal professional privilege in legal proceedings
• if you’re an auditor, that has been created as part of your job, except for information you helped any client prepare for HMRC or deliver to them

The rules about what information falls into these categories, especially personal or privileged communications, can be complicated. If you think anything we’ve asked for may fall into these categories, please discuss this with the officer dealing with the compliance check.

What to do if you disagree with an anti-avoidance information notice

If you disagree with the anti-avoidance information notice, you can appeal. The notice will tell you what you can appeal against and how to appeal.

You can not appeal if the notice has been approved by the independent tribunal. That’s because a judge has already decided what we’ve asked for is appropriate.

Asking another person for information about you

If you can not or do not give us what we’ve asked for, we may need to get it from another person. If this is the case, we’ll normally ask for your permission before we contact them.

If we ask another person for information, we will not reveal any more about you than is necessary to get the information we need. If we ask for your permission and you do not want to give it, you do not have to.  If you do not give permission and we still need the information, we’ll ask the tribunal to approve issuing an information notice.

Sometimes we may need to give another person an information notice without asking you for the information. We’ll ask the independent tribunal for approval to do this.

What happens if you do not comply with an anti-avoidance information notice

If you do not give us everything the anti-avoidance information notice asks for, we may charge you a £5,000 penalty.

If you still have not done what the notice asks by the time we’ve issued the £5,000 penalty, we may then charge you daily penalties. These penalties are up to £1,000 a day for each day you do not comply.

If you continue to fail to comply with the notice after we have charged a penalty, we can ask the independent tribunal to authorise (one or both of the following):

• increased daily penalties of up to £5,000 a day
• a penalty based on the money, or money’s worth, you received, or likely received, in connection with the arrangements the notice is about

We will not charge you a penalty if we agree you have a reasonable excuse for not complying with the notice. However, we’ll still ask you to give us the information, within an agreed timescale.

A reasonable excuse is something that stopped you from meeting an obligation on time which you took reasonable care to meet. It might be due to circumstances outside your control or a combination of events. Once the reasonable excuse has ended, you must put things right without any unnecessary delay.

Whether you have a reasonable excuse depends on both the specific situation in which the failure occurred and your own individual circumstances and abilities. This means what is a reasonable excuse for one person may not be a reasonable excuse for someone else. If you think you have a reasonable excuse, please tell us. Examples of reasonable excuse may include when:

• you’ve been seriously ill
• someone close to you has died
• you’ve lost the documents in a fire or flood

Penalties for giving inaccurate information

If you carelessly or deliberately give us inaccurate information, we may charge you a penalty. This could be up to £20,000 for each inaccuracy. We will not charge you a penalty if you tell us about the inaccuracy at the time you give us the information. If you later find an inaccuracy, you may be liable to a penalty if you do not tell us straightaway.

Concealing, destroying or disposing of information

We may charge you a penalty of £20,000 if you or another person acting on your behalf conceals, destroys or disposes of any information we:

• have asked for in an information notice
• told you we intend to ask for in an information notice

When you might be committing a criminal offence

It’s a criminal offence if you (either):

• fail to comply with a notice
• carelessly or deliberately provide inaccurate information

It’s also a criminal offence to conceal, destroy or dispose of any information we’ve (either):

• asked for in an information notice
• told you we intend to ask for in an information notice

We may carry out a criminal investigation with a view to prosecution if you commit this offence.

Any ‘responsible person’ whose actions contribute to the commission of a criminal offence by a company, Limited Liability Partnership, or partnership, will also be guilty of the offence. A responsible person is defined in section 191 of the Finance Act 2026.

What this could mean for you

If you are found guilty of a criminal offence, you may be liable to (one or both of the following):

• an unlimited fine
• imprisonment for up to 2 years

Where you commit one or both of these offences, we’ll still be able to charge the ‘civil penalties’ set out in the section:

• ‘What happens if you do not comply with an anti-avoidance information notice’
• ‘Penalties for giving inaccurate information’
• ‘Concealing, destroying or disposing of information’

However, if you’re convicted of an offence, you will not also be liable to a civil penalty for the same offence.

Requirement not to disclose the anti-avoidance information notice

The notice may include a requirement not to disclose the notice, or anything it contains. This means you should not tell anyone about the notice, except for the purpose of complying with the notice or to seek legal advice.

If the notice contains this requirement, the penalty for any disclosure is £10,000.

If you need extra support

If you have any health or personal circumstances that may make it difficult for you to deal with us, please tell the officer who contacted you. They’ll help you in whatever way they can. For more information about this, go to GOV.UK and search ‘get help from HMRC if you need extra support’.

You can also ask someone else to deal with us on your behalf. For example, a professional adviser, friend or relative. However, we may still need to talk or write to you directly about some things. If we need to write to you, we’ll send a copy to the person you’ve asked us to deal with. If we need to talk to you, they can be with you when we do, if you prefer.

Additional information

Our privacy notice

Our privacy notice sets out the standards  you can expect from us when we ask for information or hold information about you. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC Privacy Notice’.

If you’re not happy with our service

If you’re not happy with our service tell the person or office you’ve been dealing with. They’ll try to put things right. If you’re still not happy, they’ll tell you how to make a formal complaint.