MTAR30520 - Sanctions and safeguards: power to publish details of sanctioned tax advisers
Overview
HMRC has the power to publish information about tax advisers and relevant individuals who are subject to certain sanctions under the tax adviser registration regime.
The publication provisions are intended to act as an additional deterrent to non-compliance and to support transparency where a tax adviser or relevant individual has been issued with a financial penalty or an ineligibility order. The publication power, including the circumstances in which publication may be made and the information that may be published, is contained in section 246 of the Finance Act 2026.
Publication is discretionary. An authorised officer must consider the circumstances of each case before deciding whether publication is appropriate.
Section 246 operates separately from the publication powers contained in Chapter 2 of the Finance Act 2026, which allow HMRC to publish information in certain circumstances where HMRC has made a decision to refuse to deal with the tax adviser or has suspended the adviser’s access to HMRC’s online services for tax advisers, and publication is considered to be in the public interest.
Circumstances in which HMRC may publish information
HMRC may publish information about a tax adviser or relevant individual where the person has been issued with:
- a financial penalty under the tax adviser registration regime; or
- a temporary or permanent ineligibility order from registering.
Before HMRC publishes information
Before deciding whether to publish information, HMRC must:
- notify the tax adviser or relevant individual that publication is being considered;
- allow them 30 days, beginning with the date of the notification, to make representations; and
- consider any representations received.
After considering any representations, HMRC must notify the person of its decision. There is no separate right of appeal against a decision to publish information under section 246.
Time limits for publishing information
HMRC cannot publish information until the relevant financial penalty or ineligibility order has become final.
For these purposes, a penalty or ineligibility order becomes final when the time limit for bringing an appeal has expired, or, where an appeal has been made, the appeal process has been concluded.
HMRC cannot publish information for the first time more than one year after the penalty or ineligibility order has become final.
Where HMRC may publish information
Information may be published in any manner that HMRC considers appropriate. This may include publication on GOV.UK or through other official HMRC channels.
What HMRC may publish
The information that may be published is:
- the person’s name, including any trading name, previous name, or pseudonym used by the person;
- the postcode of any address used by the person;
- information necessary to identify the person accurately;
- the amount of any financial penalty, or the type of ineligibility order issued.
Removal of published information
Where information has been published on a government website, HMRC must normally take steps to remove it after one year from the date of publication.
However, this requirement does not apply where the information relates to a tax adviser or relevant individual who has been issued with a permanent ineligibility order. In those cases, the information may remain published beyond the one-year period.