Legislation – Finance Act 2026

Before issuing a notice under section 167 (promoter action notice) in respect of a certified promoter, an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs must—

(a)

provide the certified promoter with a copy of the certification, and

(b)

allow the certified promoter 30 days from the date of provision to make representations to HMRC.

167Promoter action notices

(1)

An authorised officer of Revenue and Customs may issue a notice to a person if the officer reasonably suspects that—

(a)

the person (the “recipient”) is providing goods or services to a certified promoter (the “target”), and

(b)

the goods or services are being procured or used wholly or partly in connection with the promotion of arrangements in respect of which the target is certified.

(2)

For the purposes of this Chapter, a “promoter action notice” means a notice issued under subsection (1).

(3)

A promoter action notice may, for the purpose of impeding the target’s promotion of the arrangements, require the recipient of the notice to—

(a)

stop providing some or all of the goods or services,

(b)

provide the goods or services subject to specified conditions, or

(c)

take specified steps in relation to the provision of the goods or services.

(4)

A promoter action notice must identify the target and specify—

(a)

the goods or services in respect of which it is issued,

(b)

the requirements applicable under subsection (3), and

(c)

the time by which the recipient must comply with the requirements under subsection (3).

(5)

A time specified under subsection (4)(c)—

(a)

must be the end of—

(i)

the period of 30 days beginning with the day on which the notice is issued, or

(ii)

such longer period as an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs considers appropriate, and

(b)

takes precedence over any statutory or regulatory requirement to provide a period of notice before terminating or modifying a contract.

(6)

A promoter action notice may not—

(a)

require the recipient to monitor or assess whether or how particular goods or services are being procured or used in connection with the promotion or arrangements,

(b)

restrict the provision of services that provide access to the internet, or

(c)

restrict the provision of legal or auditing services.

(7)

An authorised officer of Revenue and Customs may withdraw a promoter action notice.

(8)

The recipient is not liable in damages in respect of anything done, or omitted to be done, in good faith for the purposes of complying with a promoter action notice.

168Preliminary notices

(1)

An authorised officer of Revenue and Customs may issue a notice to a person who the officer reasonably suspects is providing goods or services as described in section 167(1).

(2)

A notice under this section must—

(a)

identify the target referred to in section 167(1);

(b)

give reasons for the suspicion referred to in subsection (1);

(c)

allow the recipient of the notice a period of 30 days from the date of the notice to make representations to HMRC.

(3)

A notice under this section may request information from the recipient.

(4)

A disclosure of information by the recipient in response to a request under subsection (3) does not breach—

(a)

any obligation of confidence owed by the person making the disclosure, or

(b)

any other restriction on the disclosure of information (however imposed).

(5)

A person who receives a notice under this section may not disclose the existence or contents of the notice to—

(a)

the target identified in the notice, or

(b)

any person who might reasonably be expected to disclose the existence or contents of the notice to the target.

(6)

An authorised officer of Revenue and Customs may withdraw a notice under this section.

169Disclosure of information by HMRC

(1)

An authorised officer of Revenue and Customs may for the purposes of this Chapter disclose—

(a)

information relating to the target identified in a promoter action notice to the recipient of the notice, or

(b)

information relating to the target identified in a notice issued under section 168 (preliminary notices) to the recipient of the notice.

(2)

A person to whom an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs discloses information under this section—

(a)

may use it only for the purpose for which it was disclosed, and

(b)

may not further disclose it without the consent of HMRC (which may be general or specific).

(3)

Where a person contravenes subsection (2)(b) by disclosing information relating to a person whose identity—

(a)

is specified in the disclosure, or

(b)

can be deduced from it,

section 19 of CRCA 2005 (offence of wrongful disclosure) applies in relation to the disclosure as it applies in relation to a disclosure in contravention of section 20(9) of that Act.

(4)

Nothing in this section limits the circumstances in which information may be disclosed under section 18(2) of CRCA 2005 or under any other enactment or rule of law.

170Appeal against a decision to issue a promoter action notice

(1)

A recipient of a promoter action notice may appeal to the tribunal against a decision to issue the notice on the grounds that—

(a)

the recipient is not providing the goods or services specified in the notice to the target identified in the notice;

(b)

the goods or services are not being used wholly or partly in connection with the arrangements referred to in section 167(1).

(2)

Notice of an appeal must—

(a)

state the ground of appeal, and

(b)

be given in writing to HMRC before the end of the period of 30 days beginning with the day on which the promoter action notice was issued.

(3)

The provisions of Part 5 of TMA 1970 relating to appeals have effect in relation to appeals under this section as they have effect in relation to an appeal against an assessment to income tax.

(4)

In this section, the “tribunal” means the First-tier Tribunal or, where determined by or under the Tribunal Procedure Rules, the Upper Tribunal.

Sanctions

171Civil penalties

(1)

A recipient of a promoter action notice is liable to a penalty if the recipient—

(a)

fails to comply with the notice, and

(b)

does so without reasonable excuse.

(2)

The maximum penalty under this section is £1,000 for each day on which the recipient failed, without reasonable excuse, to comply with the notice.

(3)

Before imposing a penalty under this section, an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs must—

(a)

notify the recipient of the fact that the authorised officer considers subsection (1) to apply, and

(b)

allow the recipient 30 days from the date of notification to make representations to HMRC.

(4)

In imposing a penalty under this section, an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs must have regard to—

(a)

the likely cost to the recipient of complying with the notice;

(b)

any benefit for the recipient of not complying with the notice;

(c)

whether and to what extent the recipient cooperated with HMRC or made efforts to comply with the notice.

(5)

A penalty imposed under this section is to be treated as a penalty determined under section 100(1) of TMA 1970.

(6)

A penalty imposed under this section is to carry interest in accordance with section 101 of FA 2009.

(7)

In paragraph 5(6) of Schedule 13 to FA 2020 (joint and several liability of company directors etc) after paragraph (g) (inserted by section 162(8)) insert—

“(h)

section 171 of FA 2026 (promoter action notices: penalties).”

172Publication

(1)

Subsection (2) applies if—

(a)

a penalty under section 171 has been imposed on a recipient of a promoter action notice, and

(b)

notice of appeal against the penalty can no longer be given or, if notice has been given, the appeal has been determined or withdrawn.

(2)

An authorised officer of Revenue and Customs may publish—

(a)

the recipient’s name (including any trading name, previous name or pseudonym);

(b)

any address used by the recipient;

(c)

any other information that the authorised officer considers appropriate for the purposes of identifying the recipient or their business;

(d)

details of the recipient’s failure to comply;

(e)

details of the penalty imposed on the recipient under section 171.

(3)

Before publishing information under this section, an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs must—

(a)

notify the recipient of their intention to publish, including the information that they intend to publish, and—

(b)

allow the recipient 30 days from the date of notification to make representations to HMRC.

(4)

Information published under this section must be withdrawn no later than 12 months after its publication.

(5)

Nothing in this section limits the circumstances in which information may be disclosed under section 18(2) of CRCA 2005 or under any other enactment or rule of law.

173Reporting to regulators etc

(1)

This section applies if an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs considers that a recipient of a promoter action notice—

(a)

failed to comply with the notice, and

(b)

did so without reasonable excuse.

(2)

An authorised officer of Revenue and Customs may, for the permitted purpose, disclose the following information to a regulator, representative body or trade body of the recipient—

(a)

the recipient’s name (including any trading name, previous name or pseudonym);

(b)

any address used by the recipient;

(c)

any other information that the authorised officer considers appropriate for the purposes of identifying the recipient or their business;

(d)

details of the recipient’s failure to comply;

(e)

details of any penalty imposed on the recipient under section 171;

(f)

any other information that the authorised officer considers appropriate for the permitted purpose.

(3)

In this section, the “permitted purpose” means assisting the person to whom the information is disclosed in relation to—

(a)

a current or future investigation into the failure referred to in subsection (1), or

(b)

any other action taken, or to be taken, by the person in relation to that failure.

(4)

Before disclosing information under this section, an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs must—

(a)

notify the recipient of their intention to disclose it, including—

(i)

their reasons for considering that subsection (1) applies, and

(ii)

the information that they intend to disclose, and

(b)

allow the recipient 30 days from the date of notification to—

(i)

comply with any requirements specified in the promoter action notice, or

(ii)

make representations to HMRC.

(5)

A person to whom an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs discloses information under this section—

(a)

may use it only for the purpose for which it was disclosed, and

(b)

may not further disclose it without the consent of HMRC (which may be general or specific).

(6)

Where a person contravenes subsection (5)(b) by disclosing information relating to a person whose identity—

(a)

is specified in the disclosure, or

(b)

can be deduced from it,

section 19 of CRCA 2005 (offence of wrongful disclosure) applies in relation to the disclosure as it applies in relation to a disclosure in contravention of section 20(9) of that Act.

(7)

Nothing in this section limits the circumstances in which information may be disclosed under section 18(2) of CRCA 2005 or under any other enactment or rule of law.

174Extension of time periods

For the purposes of sections 171 and 173, a failure of a person to do anything within a limited period of time is to be disregarded if the person did the thing within such further period of time, if any, as an officer of Revenue and Customs allowed.

175Reasonable excuse

For the purposes of sections 171 and 173—

(a)

an insufficiency of funds is not a reasonable excuse unless attributable to events outside the person’s control,

(b)

if the person relies on any other person to do anything, that is not a reasonable excuse unless the first person took reasonable care to avoid the failure,

(c)

if the person had a reasonable excuse for the failure but the excuse has ceased, the person is to be treated as having continued to have the excuse if the failure is remedied without unreasonable delay after the excuse ceased, and

(d)

reliance on legal advice is to be taken automatically not to constitute a reasonable excuse if either—

(i)

the advice was not based on a full and accurate description of the facts, or

(ii)

the conclusions in the advice that the person relied upon were unreasonable.

General

176Interpretation

In this Chapter—

“arrangements” includes any agreement, scheme, arrangement or understanding of any kind whether or not legally enforceable involving one or more transactions, and includes a proposal for arrangements;

“authorised officer of Revenue and Customs” means an officer of Revenue and Customs who is, or is a member of a class of officers who are, authorised by the Commissioners for the purpose of this Chapter;

“certified promoter” has the meaning given in section 166(3);

“Commissioners” means the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Revenue;

“HMRC” means His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs;

“promoter action notice” has the meaning given in section 167(2);

“promotion” has the meaning it has in section 236B(1) of FA 2014 (effect of stop notices) or section 159 (prohibition of promotion of certain tax avoidance arrangements) (as the context requires).