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CLAUSE 87: RECOVERY PROCEEDINGS: MINOR AMENDMENTS

SUMMARY

1.      This clause makes some minor amendments to the Taxes Management Act to ensure that proceedings for recovery of tax in county court or sheriff court can be taken whether or not the tax is payable under an assessment, and that interest on penalties and on surcharge can be included in Revenue claims in Court proceedings.

DETAILS OF THE CLAUSE

2.      Subsection (1) amends sections 66(1) and 67(1) of the Taxes Management Act 1970, which provide for proceedings to recover tax in county courts and in sheriff courts in Scotland respectively. The amendment removes the words “under any assessment”, so that proceedings can be taken for tax due and payable, whether or not the tax arises under an assessment. The amendment applies to proceedings begun after the passing of the Finance Act.

3.      Subsection (2) substitutes a new section 69 in the Taxes Management Act 1970, and provides that the amendment applies to proceedings etc begun, or a set-off first claimed, after the passing of the Finance Act

New Section 69 provides for recovery of interest, penalties and surcharge. The new section extends coverage of this provision to interest charged under any provision of the Taxes Management Act, instead of, previously, only Part IX of the Act.

Subsection (1) specifies the penalties, surcharges and interest which the section applies to. 

Subsection (2) provides that penalties, surcharges and interest to which the section applies are treated as tax for the purpose of the provisions in subsection (3).

Subsection (3) sets out the relevant provisions, viz: provisions in the Taxes Management Act 1970 relating to distraint, poinding, and court proceedings, and provisions in the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 relating to set-off.

4.      Subsection (3) amends section 70(2) of the Taxes Management Act 1970, which provides for a certificate of a collector as evidence that an amount is unpaid and due to the Crown. The subsection amends the wording relating to interest payable, so that interest under any provision in the Taxes Management Act 1970, or the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988, is covered. The amendment applies to certificates tendered in evidence after the passing of the Finance Act.