Guidance

The Human Rights Act and penalties (CC/FS9)

Updated 7 April 2022

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.

We’ll ask you to read this factsheet if we believe these rights may apply to you and we need your help to work out whether to charge you a penalty.

This factsheet is one of a series. For the full list of factsheets in the series, go to www.gov.uk and search for ‘Compliance checks factsheets’.

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’s contacted you. We’ll help you in whatever way we can. For more details, go to www.gov.uk/get-help-hmrc-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.

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

We always welcome your co-operation with our compliance check and in establishing the right liabilities. This includes whether any penalties may be due. The extent to which you co-operate with us and provide us with information is entirely your choice.

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

When making a decision about how much you’re going to co-operate with us, you’ve 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’ve the right to have the matter of penalties dealt with without unreasonable delay. We’ll normally tell you whether any penalties are due once we’ve agreed the tax position with you. If we cannot agree the tax position, we’ll send you an amendment or assessment of any additional tax we believe is due. If we consider that a penalty is also due, we’ll send you an assessment of the penalty. The assessment will be based on the additional tax.

If we charge you a penalty, you’ve the right to ask for a review or to appeal. You also have the right to ask for your review or appeal against both the tax and the penalty decisions to be considered together. Our 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 can find more information about tribunals on the tribunal’s website. Go to www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service/about.

You’ve the right to apply for publicly funded legal assistance or legal aid. In some circumstances, funding may be available to help you bring certain appeals before the tribunal. If you’re going to appeal against a penalty assessment, you may want to check whether your case qualifies and what help may be available. We’ve no involvement in decisions about if 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 officer who is dealing with the compliance check straightaway.

Funded legal assistance

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

• England and Wales by going to the Civil Legal Advice website at www.gov.uk/civil-legal-advice or by phoning 0345 345 4345
• Scotland by going to the Scottish Legal Aid Board website at www.slab.org.uk or by phoning 0131 226 7061
• Northern Ireland by contacting a solicitor who’s a member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, go to www.lawsoc-ni.org

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.

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. Go to www.gov.uk and search for ‘HMRC Privacy Notice’.