The Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) has published guidance on its tax avoidance and evasion policy in relation to the two devolved taxes it currently manages – land transaction tax and landfill disposals tax.
The guidance focuses particularly on penalties for inaccurate returns, from the maximum penalties that can be imposed in cases of deliberate inaccuracy, to the penalty reductions the WRA can apply where disclosure is unprompted, with a possible 100% total reduction where the taxpayer is fully cooperative.
Although much of the guidance follows familiar concepts, encouraging taxpayers and agents to disclose details of inaccuracies voluntarily, the legislation on penalties for inaccurate returns for the Welsh devolved taxes is set out separately in the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 Pt 5 Ch 3 rather than in FA 2007 Sch 24.
One key difference between the penalty regimes is the number of categories of penalty for certain types of behaviour. For the Welsh devolved taxes, the penalty ranges are based on either careless or deliberate behaviour. The Welsh legislation does not include separate categories for ‘deliberate but not concealed action’ and ‘deliberate and concealed action’, although the maximum penalty for deliberate behaviour is still 100% of the potential lost revenue.
The Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) has published guidance on its tax avoidance and evasion policy in relation to the two devolved taxes it currently manages – land transaction tax and landfill disposals tax.
The guidance focuses particularly on penalties for inaccurate returns, from the maximum penalties that can be imposed in cases of deliberate inaccuracy, to the penalty reductions the WRA can apply where disclosure is unprompted, with a possible 100% total reduction where the taxpayer is fully cooperative.
Although much of the guidance follows familiar concepts, encouraging taxpayers and agents to disclose details of inaccuracies voluntarily, the legislation on penalties for inaccurate returns for the Welsh devolved taxes is set out separately in the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 Pt 5 Ch 3 rather than in FA 2007 Sch 24.
One key difference between the penalty regimes is the number of categories of penalty for certain types of behaviour. For the Welsh devolved taxes, the penalty ranges are based on either careless or deliberate behaviour. The Welsh legislation does not include separate categories for ‘deliberate but not concealed action’ and ‘deliberate and concealed action’, although the maximum penalty for deliberate behaviour is still 100% of the potential lost revenue.
