Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 section 212

Reduction in penalty under section 209 for disclosure

Section 212 explains how penalties for failing to register for tax (or similar requirements) can be reduced if the person who failed to comply voluntarily discloses the failure to Revenue Scotland.

• Revenue Scotland has discretion to reduce a registration failure penalty where the person discloses the failure, helps quantify any unpaid tax, and provides access to records
• A disclosure involves three steps: telling Revenue Scotland about the failure, helping them work out how much tax is unpaid, and giving them access to relevant records
• The size of any penalty reduction depends on whether the disclosure was made voluntarily (unprompted) or only after the person had reason to believe Revenue Scotland was already aware of or close to discovering the failure (prompted)
• The quality of the disclosure — including how quickly it was made, how thorough it was, and how much detail was provided — also affects the level of any reduction

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