Guidance

The Human Rights Act and DOTAS penalties — CC/FS57

Published 13 May 2022

We’ll ask you to read this factsheet if we’re considering charging you a penalty for failing to comply with your obligations under disclosure of tax avoidance schemes (DOTAS). You can find more information about DOTAS penalties in our guidance .

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was incorporated into British law through the Human Rights Act 1998 gives you certain rights when we’re considering whether to charge certain types of penalties.

This factsheet is one of a series. See HMRC compliance check factsheets for more.

What your rights under Article 6 mean for you when we’re considering penalties

We always welcome your co-operation when deciding whether to charge you a penalty and when working out how much that penalty should be. The extent to which you co-operate with us and provide us with information is entirely your choice.

When we’re considering penalties, you have the right under Article 6 not to answer our questions. This is sometimes called the right to not self-incriminate, or the right to silence. This right does not cover information or documents that already exist. This means you must give us information or documents that already exist, if we have a legal right to ask for them.

In deciding how much you’re going to co-operate with us, you have the right to get help from a professional adviser. If you do not already have an adviser, you may want to consider consulting one.

You have the right to have the matter of penalties dealt with without unreasonable delay. We will apply to the tribunal for its approval to charge a DOTAS penalty if we think one should be charged on you. If the tribunal determines a penalty, you have the right to appeal that decision to the Upper Tribunal. You can find more information about tribunals on the tribunal’s website.

If a penalty has been determined by the tribunal, in certain circumstances we may send you a further notice of penalty determination, without first applying to the tribunal. If we do this, we’ll explain why we’ve charged the penalty and how we’ve worked out the amount. If we charge you a further penalty, you have the right to ask for a review or to appeal. Factsheet HMRC1 ‘HM Revenue and Customs decisions – what to do if you disagree’ explains what to do if you want to ask for a review, or to appeal.

You have the right to apply for publicly funded legal assistance or legal aid. In some circumstances, funding may be available to help you with the cost of certain penalty proceedings before the Tribunal.

If you’ve received notice of penalty action or you’re going to appeal against a penalty determination, you may want to check whether your case qualifies and the type of help that may be available.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has no involvement in decisions about whether your case will qualify. You can find details of where to get information below.

If there’s anything you do not understand about these rights or what they mean for you, please tell the HMRC officer who contacted you about penalties.

Funded legal assistance

You can find out more about funded legal assistance or legal aid in:

• England and Wales by going to the Civil Legal Advice website or by phoning 0345 345 4345
• Scotland by going to the Scottish Legal Aid Board or by phoning 0131 226 7061
• Northern Ireland by contacting a solicitor who’s a member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland

You can also get more details from Citizens Advice or you can apply for funded legal assistance or legal aid through a solicitor anywhere in the UK.

If you need help

If you have any health or personal circumstances that may make it difficult for you to deal with us, please tell the officer that has contacted you. We’ll help you in whatever way we can. For more information, go to get help from HMRC if you need extra support.

You can also ask someone else to deal with us on your behalf, for example, a professional adviser, friend or relative. We may however still need to talk or write to you directly about some things. If we need to write to you, we’ll send a copy to the person you’ve asked us to deal with. If we need to talk to you, they can be with you when we do, if you prefer.

Our privacy notice

Our privacy notice sets out the standards that you can expect from us when we ask for information or hold information about you.

If you are not happy with our service

Please tell the person or office you’ve been dealing with. They’ll try to put things right. If you are still not happy, they’ll tell you how to make a formal complaint.