EM4502 - Penalties: introduction: civil financial penalties

This chapter deals with the civil monetary penalties imposed on defaulting taxpayers by the taxes/NICs/etc legislation - the penalties that enquiry officers deal with in everyday work.

A comparatively small number of taxpayers are, instead, prosecuted for criminal offences such as common law cheat. Those found guilty may be fined or imprisoned or both. Prosecutions are handled by specialist units and are not part of the enquiry officer’s work.

HRA concerns are a separate matter, see EM1350+