CH123425 - Offshore matters: requirement to correct certain offshore tax non-compliance: failure to correct - publishing details of defaulters
A person who is found liable to a penalty for failing to correct their offshore tax non-compliance during the requirement to correct period may have their details published by HMRC.
Publishing details of defaulters
Conditions for publishing details
HMRC may publish information about a person if
- they had offshore tax non-compliance at the end of 2016-17 which they were aware of and failed to correct within the requirement to correct period (6 April 2017 to 30 September 2018), and
- they have incurred one or more relevant penalty under Para 1 to which they have been assessed or is the subject of a contract settlement, and
- the offshore potential lost revenue (PLR) in relation to the penalty, or the aggregate of the offshore potential lost revenue in relation to each of the penalties, exceeds £25,000.
HMRC can also publish details if the person has incurred five or more relevant penalties regardless of the total PLR.
The information that may be published is
- the person’s name (including any trading name, previous name or pseudonym),
- the person’s address (or registered office),
- the nature of any business carried on by the person,
- the amount of the penalty or penalties,
- the offshore potential lost revenue in relation to the penalty or the aggregate of the offshore potential lost revenue in relation to each of the penalties,
- the periods or times to which the uncorrected relevant offshore tax non-compliance relates,
- any other information that the Commissioners consider it appropriate to publish in order to make clear the person’s identity.
The information may be published in any manner that the Commissioners consider appropriate. However before publishing any information the Commissioners must
- inform the person that they are considering doing so, and
- allow the person the opportunity to make representations about whether it should be published.
Time limits
There are certain publication time limits which are listed below.
- No information may be published before the penalty becomes final. If there is more than one penalty involved, this is the latest day on which any of the penalties become final.
- No information may be published for the first time, more than one year after the penalty becomes final.
- We can only continue to publish these details for a maximum of 12 months from the first publication date.
The information will only be published once the penalties are final. A penalty becomes final on either
- the day after the end of the appeal period if the person doesn’t make an appeal,
- the date when the appeal is finally determined,
- the date when a contract settlement is made.
Exceptions
The information may not be published if the amount of the penalty is reduced under paragraph 16 to the minimum permitted amount (being 100% of the offshore PLR), or is reduced to nil or stayed as a consequence of special circumstances.