CCM10760 – Penalties and Interest: Incorrect Claims – Meaning of Deliberate and Systematic Over-Claims - Enquiries or Examinations Opened on or after 6 April 2008
Where an over-claim arose from an error which was the result
of a Deliberate and Systematic Over-claim we will charge a penalty
of 50% of the over-claim.
(This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the
Freedom of Information Act 2000)
There are two criteria for a penalty in this category:
- A tax credit over-claim must have arisen from a Deliberate
Error (ie not a Failure to Take Reasonable Care or a Serious
Error); and
- A Deliberate Error must have been repeated, or a range of
different Deliberate Errors committed over time.
To satisfy criterion 2, you must have identified a Deliberate
Error on a previous enquiry or examination. If you find a number of
Deliberate Errors in a year or different years during the course of
a single enquiry or examination that is not a ‘Deliberate and
Systematic Over-claim’, but you should tell the claimant that
they are likely to receive a higher penalty if they repeat the
behaviour.
Note: When considering whether there is a repetition of a
Deliberate Error, you should not treat the outcome of an
examination or enquiry opened on or before 5 April 2008 to be a
‘first offence’ because the behaviour of the claimant
will not have been established in the same way.
