Services

VAT Penalties

Customs and Excise can impose a wide variety of penalties for breaches of regulations and failure to pay the right amount of tax at the right time.  They vary from 2% for the late submission of a VAT return up to 100% in cases of serious VAT evasion.  Even errors made innocently can attract penalties where preset criteria are exceeded and a mis-declaration penalty  levied at 15% can represent a serious cost to a business.

Penalties for serious tax evasion start at 100% of the tax evaded, but can be mitigated to as low as nil in exceptional circumstances.  This is a specialist area of tax advice and in the event that you become the subject of a tax investigation, you should contact us immediately.

Some penalties are not always fixed and their mitigation or withdrawal can be achieved if the circumstances permit.  Where there is a reasonable excuse for the conduct which resulted in a penalty being imposed our negotiating skills have brought about substantial savings for clients.

For further information please contact our Directors John Crawford, Steve McIntyre or Peter Baumgardt.