DMBM537440 - Debt and return pursuit: Climate Change Levy: Who is liable to pay the debt? The tax representative
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Taxpayers not resident in the UK who
- make taxable supplies as gas or electricity utilities or
- receive or intend to receive taxable supplies of solid fuel or Light Petroleum Gas (LPG) from outside the UK
are liable to register for CCL and are liable to pay the levy due.
To secure payment of levy due, we may require the taxable person to appoint a taxrepresentative who is liable jointly and severally with the taxable person for levy due.
Paragraph 115 (3) of Schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2000, provides:
A person who is or has been the tax representative of a non-resident taxpayer shallbe personally liable
(a) in respect of any failure while he is or was the non-resident taxpayers taxrepresentative to secure compliance with, or the discharge of, any obligation or liabilityto which sub- paragraph (2) applies and
(b) in respect of anything done in the course of, or for purposes connected with, actingon the non-resident taxpayers behalf,
as if the obligations and liabilities to which sub-paragraph (2) applies were imposedjointly and severally on the tax representative and the non-resident taxpayer.
As a matter of policy take civil recovery action against a CCL representative only whenaction against the registered person is exhausted and a debt for which the CCLrepresentative is liable remains unpaid.
The Enforcement and Insolvency Service (EIS) requires verification of the CCLrepresentatives status (normally, a letter signed by the authorised officerconfirming his official representative status).
The provision for mutual assistance between Member States of the European Union in therecovery of tax debts does not currently extend to the collection of CCL.