SDLTM86230 - Compliance: Penalties
Legislation: Failure to keep and preserve records FA03/SCH10/PARA11: General
A penalty up to £3000 may be charged for each failure to
keep or to preserve adequate records in respect of a land
transaction return. For this purpose there can be only one failure
for each return.
These penalties are subject to the normal appeal rights and
can be abated by the Board.
The records required to be kept and preserved under this
paragraph include
- relevant instruments relating to the transaction, in particular, any contract or conveyance, and any supporting maps, plans or similar documents
- records of relevant payments, receipts and financial arrangements
FA03/SCH10/PARA10 allows for the preservation of information
instead of the original records. Records may be kept in an
alternative form, such as microfiche or an electronic facsimile, as
long as the information they contain is preserved.
If records are kept in this form they will be admissible as
evidence before a land tribunal.
The purchaser has a duty, under FA03/SCH10/PARA9, to keep and
preserve records for six years from the effective date of the
transaction, or if later
- the end of any enquiry
- the end of the enquiry window
It is not HM Revenue & Customs intention to seek penalties
under this legislation in every case where there is evidence that
the purchaser had failed to maintain and retain the required
records.
In the majority of cases where the purchaser has failed to
keep adequate records and where, as a result, offences under
FA03/SCH10/PARA11 have been brought to light, it will be sufficient
simply to continue to reflect those failures in calculating the
abatements considered appropriate.
Assurances should be given that FA03/SCH10/PARA11 penalties
will only be sought in more serious cases where, for example,
records have been deliberately destroyed to obstruct an enquiry or
where there has been a history of serious record-keeping failures.
If it is considered that this action is appropriate a
submission should be made
