Taxes Management Act 1970 section 20BB

Falsification etc. of documents

Section 20BB makes it a criminal offence to falsify, conceal, destroy or otherwise dispose of documents that a person has been ordered to produce to HMRC under section 20BA of the Act.

• It is an offence to intentionally falsify, conceal, destroy or dispose of a document required under a tribunal order, or to cause or permit someone else to do so
• No offence is committed if the person has written permission from the tribunal or an HMRC officer, or if the document has already been delivered
• No offence is committed if the person acts more than two years after the order was made, unless HMRC has notified them in writing within that period that the order has not been satisfied
• Penalties on conviction range from a fine on summary conviction up to two years' imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine on indictment