CH81080 - Penalties for Inaccuracies: In what circumstances is a penalty payable: Inaccuracy discovered after document sent to HMRC
You must check the date from which these rules apply for
the tax or duty you aredealing with. SeeCH81011for full details.
If an inaccuracy by a person (P) was neither careless nor
deliberate at the time the document was sent to us, it will be
treated as careless if P
- discovers the inaccuracy at some later time, and
- does not take reasonable steps to inform us.
You must consider the action P took to tell you of the
inaccuracy in order to determine whether or not they took
reasonable steps. One of the things you will want to consider is
how soon after the discovery of the inaccuracy P told us of it.
Examples of a person taking reasonable steps to inform us
are
- consulting an agent to discuss the position and asking the agent to inform us
- ringing us to discuss it
- discussing it with the compliance officer if there is an ongoing compliance check
- e-mailing, faxing or writing to an HMRC officer with details of the inaccuracy
- making an adjustment under the error correction regime in the return for the period of discovery, see CH81141.
How quickly after the discovery the person contacted us by any of the above means may influence the decision on whether or not they took reasonable steps.
