CCPG27320 - Penalty notice: deciding the amount of a penalty: setting penalty amounts

First penalty for non serious errors

Several errors for the same contravention which do not amount to a serious error and where precisely the same mistake has been made several times, will be treated as a single error.

For these types of errors we normally set a first penalty at £250 per contravention. This is the minimum penalty amount before any mitigation.

First penalty for serious errors

When establishing the customs debt from a penalty perspective the following criteria applies:

  • customs debt is considered on import declarations from 3 years prior to the intended date of issue of the Civil Penalty Warning letter or Civil Penalty letter and 2 years 11 months form the Right to Be Heard letter.

When customs debt exceeds £10,000 but is less the £49,999.99 the first penalty is typically set at £250 per contravention. This is the minimum penalty amount before mitigation.

We may set a higher first penalty for a serious error when:

  • customs debt is £50,000 or more we may consider setting a first penalty of £1,000.
  • customs debt is above £100,000 we may consider setting a first penalty at the maximum amount for the contravention i.e. £1,000 or £2,500
  • contravention has a particularly serious or detrimental effect on the control of goods, we may consider setting a first penalty of a minimum of £1,000
  • contravention, although not generating a revenue loss, has led to a breach of the ‘security’ measures we may consider setting a first penalty higher than the minimum.

The maximum penalty amount is either £1,000 or £2,500 as set out in the Schedules of contravention, see CCPG11010.

You can find more information about serious errors in section 3.2 of Notice 301.

In summary, above criteria is the penalty value which is considered before mitigation.

  • customs debt exceeds £10,000 but less than £49,999.99 then penalty consideration is on £250 and this is the value which mitigation is applied to
  • customs debt exceeds £50,000 then penalty consideration is on £1,000 and this is the value which mitigation is applied to
  • customs debt exceeds £100,000 then penalty consideration is on the maximum penalty i.e. £1,000 or £2,500 and this is the value which mitigation is applied to.

Subsequent penalties for non serious errors

If there are subsequent broadly similar contraventions within two years, we should increase the penalty in steps until the maximum amount is reached. The intermediate steps are usually:

  • £500 for a second contravention
  • £1,000 for a third contravention (this will be the maximum for some contraventions)
  • £2,000 for a fourth contravention, and
  • £2,500 for subsequent penalties.

These are recommended amounts. However, we will determine the amount of the penalty having considered the circumstances, including the level of previous penalties for the same contravention, whether there are grounds for mitigation, the trader’s attitude to compliance and also the detail of any corrective action the trader may have taken to improve compliance.

Subsequent penalties for serious errors

If there are subsequent broadly similar contraventions within two years, we should increase the penalty in steps until the maximum amount is reached. The intermediate steps are usually:

  • £500 for a second contravention
  • £1,000 for a third contravention (this will be the maximum for some contraventions)
  • £2,000 for a fourth contravention, and
  • £2,500 for subsequent penalties.

There is more detail on subsequent penalties at CCPG27320. {#}

Note: that there is a cap of £25,000 on the total value of penalties (per site) we can issue as a result of a single compliance check.