Skip to main content
Guidance

The Human Rights Act and penalties for an incorrect declaration relating to privileged material — CC/FS85

Published 22 July 2026

© Crown copyright 2026

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compliance-checks-the-human-rights-act-and-penalties-for-an-incorrect-declaration-relating-to-privileged-material-ccfs85/the-human-rights-act-and-penalties-for-an-incorrect-declaration-relating-to-privileged-material-ccfs85

This factsheet tells you about your rights under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This was incorporated into UK law through the Human Rights Act 1998. It gives you certain rights when we’re considering whether to charge certain types of penalties.

We’ll ask you to read this factsheet if we’re considering charging you a penalty.

These penalties are for (either):

  • making a declaration that includes incorrect information
  • providing a declaration made by another person that includes incorrect information, and you knew or should have known that the information was incorrect

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

What your rights under Article 6 mean for you when we’re considering penalties

We would appreciate your co-operation when deciding whether to charge you a penalty and when working out how much that penalty should be. The amount of help and information you give us is entirely your choice.

When we’re considering charging penalties, you have the right under Article 6 not to answer our questions. This is sometimes called the right not to self-incriminate or the right to silence. This right doesn’t cover information or documents that already exist. This means you must give us the information or documents that already exist, if we have a legal right to ask for them.

In deciding how much you’re going to co-operate with us, you have the right to get help from a professional adviser. If you don’t already have an adviser, you may want to consider consulting one.

You have the right to have the matter of penalties dealt with without unreasonable delay. If we decide to charge you a penalty, we’ll send you a penalty assessment and explain how we’ve worked out the penalty.

If we charge you a penalty, you have the right to ask for a review or to appeal.

For more information about your appeal and review rights, go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC1’ or ‘disagree with a tax decision or penalty’. You can ask for a copy by calling 0300 200 3610. You can also find more information about tribunals on the tribunal’s website. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘courts and tribunals’.

You have the right to apply for publicly funded legal assistance or legal aid. In some circumstances, funding may be available to help you bring certain appeals before the tribunal. If you’re going to appeal against a penalty assessment, you may want to check whether your case qualifies and what help may be available. We have no involvement in decisions about if your case will qualify.

If there’s anything you don’t understand about these rights or what they mean for you, tell the officer who contacted you about penalties straightaway.

To find out more about funded legal assistance or legal aid in:

  • England and Wales, go to the Civil Legal Advice website at www.gov.uk/civil-legal-advice or call 0345 345 4345
  • Scotland, go to the Scottish Legal Aid Board website at www.slab.org.uk
    or call 0131 226 7061
  • Northern Ireland, contact a solicitor who’s a member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, at www.lawsoc-ni.org

You can also get more information from Citizens Advice or you can apply for funded legal assistance or legal aid through a solicitor anywhere in the UK.

Our privacy notice

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

Back to top