CH271100 - How to do a compliance check: penalty for an inaccuracy in response to notices: introduction and scope

This page and chapter are under review as the relevant content is also published in the technical guidance chapters of the Compliance Handbook, within Compliance checks factsheets and in Compliance checks guidance. If you use particular pages regularly, please email hmrcmanualsteam@hmrc.gov.uk to let us know the specific content you find useful.

Guidance at CH26280 sets out the circumstances when a person may have to pay a penalty under Paragraph 40A of Schedule 36 Finance Act 2008 and Schedule 23 of Finance Act 2011:

  • giving HMRC inaccurate information, or
  • giving HMRC a document containing an inaccuracy and not telling us about it when responding to a notice

The maximum penalty is £3000 for each inaccuracy, see CH26780.

The relevant notices in SEES will contain a warning that inaccurate responses can be penalised in this way.

This part of the guidance tells you about:

  • why an inaccuracy in a document should be disclosed to you, see CH271200 
  • the interaction between these penalties and Schedule 24 FA07 penalties, see CH271300 
  • how to decide on the amount of the penalty to assess, see CH271400 
  • the authorisation and charge creation procedure, see CH271500