CH195020 - Electronic sales suppression: penalty for making, supplying or promoting an electronic sales suppression tool: reductions for disclosure: quality of disclosure: telling
Telling includes
- admitting making, supplying or promoting the electronic sales suppression tool
- disclosing the making, supplying or promoting in full
- explaining how and why the making, supplying or promoting occurred
What is important is the timing, nature and extent of the telling of the disclosure.
Timing
Timing should take into consideration how long it has taken someone to come forward to make the disclosure about making, supplying or promoting. When the person tells you about making, supplying or promoting, they must tell you all the facts at that time.
Normally the maximum reduction for the timing of telling is only earned if all the telling occurs immediately after the opportunity to tell begins. Maximum reduction will not normally be earned if the taxpayer, having received notice of the start of a compliance check, delays making a disclosure. For example, waiting until we arrive to investigate his POS or until he receives a request for information, and so on. Each such case should be considered on its merits and the type of compliance check involved.
The reduction will decrease proportionately throughout the period when a disclosure can be made. If a person doesn’t make a disclosure until the end of a compliance, they can expect a low reduction for the timing of the telling.
Nature
The nature covers why the making, supplying or promoting occurred. The person needs to show a positive approach to telling what has happened not just reacting to questions unless this was clearly all that was required or all that the person was capable of, taking into account their abilities and circumstances.
Extent
The extent is whether everything is disclosed to us. If there is only a partial disclosure then a full reduction will not be due. There is an overlap here with ‘helping’ - a disclosure that makes no reference to the scale of making, supplying or promoting is not considered to be a complete disclosure.
Overall, the telling you about the disclosure must be positive and as complete as possible, taking into account the person’s circumstances and ability, in order to obtain the full reduction.
You should not penalise the person for not admitting the making, supplying or promoting if
- they put forward a tenable argument that there was no making, supplying or promoting, or
- they don’t tell us about matters that they know we are already aware of
Overall, the person must be positive and as complete as possible when telling you about the disclosure.