To establish a penalty for negligence under IHTA84/S247 (1)
for delivering an incorrect account, information or document (
IHTM36103) you must show that the
taxpayer, the person who is responsible for delivering the account,
was negligent. If there is more than one accountable person acting
you should investigate the degree of culpability of each person in
the event that proceedings are commenced against them in the
absence of a negotiated settlement. In attempting to reach a
negotiated settlement however you should seek a single penalty and
not attempt to apportion it between the accountable persons. In any
case of doubt or difficulty refer to the Penalty Portfolio Holder
You cannot automatically attribute an agent’s
negligence to a taxpayer. But you do need to carefully investigate
claims that the omission or error was the result of an
agent’s failure (
IHTM36315).
There is a separate penalty provision that applies where
someone other then the taxpayer (
IHTM36104) fraudulently or negligently
provides incorrect information or an incorrect document,
IHTA84/S247 (3).
