penalties

Amounts demanded by the tax authorities in excess of the tax due when certain statutory requirements have not been satisfied. The penalty regime for income tax and corporation tax differs from that for value added tax. For income tax and corporation tax the Inland Revenue has powers to impose penalties when it has been established that there has been a loss of tax as a result of the taxpayer's fraudulent or negligent conduct. Failure to submit a tax return attracts a fixed sum together with a daily penalty. The penalty for negligence or fraud depends on the amount of tax lost and can equal the tax lost. However, there is a mitigation procedure to reduce the penalty under certain circumstances. Value added tax penalties are more automatic without the same level of mitigation procedures. From 1 December 1993 the main VAT penalties are the misdeclaration penalty and the persistent misdeclaration penalty