ECL31600 - Enforcement: Penalties: Failure to keep and preserve records

Where a person is liable to pay the Economic Crime Levy to HMRC, they must make a return to HMRC on or before 30th September after the end of the financial year for which the liability arises.

For that ECL return, the person must comply with the record keeping requirements set out below:

  1. A person liable to pay the levy must keep all records that are required to enable a person to make a complete and accurate ECL return, and preserve those records for 6 years after the end of the period in which a return was due (or any earlier time specified by HMRC in writing).
  2. Records must be preserved in a medium that is readily accessible for future reference by HMRC.
  3. If records are amended, HMRC must be able to ascertain the content of any record prior to such correction or amendment. Records must be stored in method that prevents any other alteration or manipulation to be made.

Penalty

If the person has not complied with the record keeping requirements set out above, they may be fined a discretionary amount by HMRC up to a maximum of £3,000.