CH10100 - Record Keeping: Overview
A person must keep and maintain records in order to make a correct and complete return or claim even if they don’t make a return or claim every year. The person must retain these records and supporting documents for a specified period.
As part of the review of powers undertaken following the creation of HMRC, work has started on aligning the record-keeping requirements across different taxes. These changes allow HMRC to
- make regulations to specify the records and supporting documents that either must or need not be kept
- reduce the period for which records must be kept in individual cases, and
- specify conditions and exceptions to the general rule that information instead of records may be preserved.
The taxes affected by these changes from 1 April 2009 are
- income tax
- capital gains tax
- corporation tax
- direct taxes claims not included in a return, and
- VAT.
The taxes affected from 1 April 2010 are
- insurance premium tax
- stamp duty land tax
- aggregates levy
- climate change levy, and
- landfill tax.
Record keeping requirements apply to
- bank payroll tax from 8 April 2010
- excise duties from 1 April 2011, and
- annual tax on enveloped dwellings from 1 April 2013.
We may charge a penalty if a person fails to keep or retain records. There is no change to the existing penalty regimes.
Operational guidance starts at CH210000.