CH122600 - Offshore matters: asset-based penalties: penalty reduction for prompted or unprompted disclosure

The maximum amount of reduction available for disclosure will depend upon whether the case involves prompted or unprompted disclosure.

A disclosure is unprompted if it is made at a time when the person making it has no reason to believe that we have discovered or are about to discover the inaccuracy or under-assessment, see CH82420.

Otherwise it is a prompted disclosure.

Prompted

A case involves prompted disclosures where any of the standard offshore tax penalties to which the asset-based penalty relates was reduced on the basis of a prompted disclosure.

The maximum amount by which the standard amount of the asset-based penalty may be reduced is 20% of the standard amount in a case involving prompted disclosures.

Unprompted

A case involves only unprompted disclosures where

  • in a case where the asset-based penalty relates to only one standard offshore tax penalty, that standard offshore tax penalty was reduced on the basis of an unprompted disclosure, or
  • in a case where the asset-based penalty relates to more than one standard offshore tax penalty, all of those standard offshore tax penalties were reduced on the basis of unprompted disclosures.

The maximum amount by which the standard amount of the asset-based penalty may be reduced is 50% of the standard amount in a case involving only unprompted disclosures.

FA 16/SCH 22/Para 8