ONSCG3100 - Information required for clearance applications: general information required

Customers must provide, at the time the clearance is sought, the full facts and context of the transaction, and set out the legislative uncertainty in question.

The customer is responsible for ensuring that the information supplied is correct, accurate and complete. As Bingham L.J. said in R v IRC (ex parte MFK Underwriting Agencies Ltd) [1989] STC 873:

‘the taxpayer should have put all his cards face upwards on the table’.

The extent of the information provided will depend on the actual circumstances of the clearance application.

The Annexes in Non-Statutory clearance Guidance specify the information that customers should supply to enable their application to be processed quickly. Not all of the information listed will be available or relevant for every clearance application. Customers may supplement this information with more detailed explanations where appropriate, drawing attention to the relevant paragraphs in any supporting documents provided.

Customers may choose to supply summaries of the relevant information, rather than a large volume of supporting documents.