Finance (No. 2) Bill (HL Bill 156)

(2) A cancellation under subsection (1) is to be made with effect from the day on
which the person ceased to meet the voluntary registration eligibility
conditions.

(3) The Commissioners must cancel a person’s registration under section 91 if the
5person requests the cancellation.

(4) A cancellation under subsection (3) is to be made with effect from—

(a) the day on which the request is made, or

(b) such later day as may be agreed between the Commissioners and the
person.

94 10Correction of the register

(1) The Commissioners may by regulations make provision about the correction
of entries in the register.

(2) Regulations under subsection (1) may make provision for requiring persons
who are, or are liable to be, registered to notify the Commissioners of changes
15in circumstances which are relevant to the register.

95 Applications, notifications etc

The Commissioners may by or under regulations make provision—

(a) about the form and manner in which a notification under section 90
(notification of liability to register) is to be given;

(b) 20about the information to be contained in or provided with a notification
under that section;

(c) about the form and manner of an application under section 91
(voluntary registration: small producers);

(d) requiring applications, notifications and other communications with
25the Commissioners in connection with registration to be made
electronically.

Offences

96 Fraudulent evasion

(1) A person commits an offence if the person is knowingly concerned in, or in the
30taking of steps with a view to, the fraudulent evasion (by that person or any
other person) of soft drinks industry levy.

(2) The references in subsection (1) to the evasion of soft drinks industry levy
include references to obtaining, in circumstances where there is no entitlement
to it—

(a) 35a tax credit under regulations under section 85;

(b) a repayment of soft drinks industry levy under Schedule 20.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a) on summary conviction in England and Wales—

(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or

(ii) 40to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or (if greater) 3 times the total of
the amounts of soft drinks industry levy that were, or were
intended to be, evaded, or

(iii) to both;

(b) on summary conviction in Scotland—

(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or

(ii) to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or (if greater) 3
5times the total of the amounts of soft drinks industry levy that
were, or were intended to be, evaded, or

(iii) to both;

(c) on summary conviction in Northern Ireland—

(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or

(ii) 10to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or (if greater) 3
times the total of the amounts of soft drinks industry levy that
were, or were intended to be, evaded, or

(iii) to both;

(d) on conviction on indictment—

(i) 15to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years,

(ii) to a fine, or

(iii) to both.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), the amounts of soft drinks industry levy that
were, or were intended to be, evaded are to be taken as including—

(a) 20the amount of any tax credit under regulations under section 85, and

(b) the amount of any repayment of soft drinks industry levy under
Schedule 20,

which was, or was intended to be, obtained in circumstances where there was
no entitlement to it.

(5) 25In determining for the purposes of subsection (3) the amounts of soft drinks
industry levy that were, or were intended to be, evaded, no account is to be
taken of the extent to which any liability to levy of a person would be, or would
have been, reduced by the amount of any tax credit or repayment of soft drinks
industry levy to which the person was, or would have been, entitled.

(6) 30In relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1)
of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 the reference in subsection (3)(a)(i) to 12
months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

97 Failure to notify registration liability

(1) A person who fails to comply with section 90(1) (obligation to notify the
35Commissioners of liability to be registered) commits an offence.

(2) In proceedings against a person (P) for an offence under subsection (1), it is a
defence for P to prove that P had a reasonable excuse for the failure to comply.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)—

(a) where P relies on any other person to do anything, that is not a
40reasonable excuse unless P took reasonable care to avoid the failure;

(b) where P had a reasonable excuse for the failure but the excuse has
ceased, P is to be treated as having continued to have the excuse if the
failure is remedied without unreasonable delay after the excuse ceased.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a) 45on summary conviction in England and Wales—

(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or

(ii) to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or (if greater) 3 times the amount
of the potential lost revenue, or

(iii) to both;

(b) on summary conviction in Scotland—

(i) 5to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or

(ii) to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or (if greater) 3
times the amount of the potential lost revenue, or

(iii) to both;

(c) on summary conviction in Northern Ireland—

(i) 10to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or

(ii) to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or (if greater) 3
times the amount of the potential lost revenue, or

(iii) to both;

(d) on conviction on indictment—

(i) 15to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years,

(ii) to a fine, or

(iii) to both.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), the “potential lost revenue” is the amount
of soft drinks industry levy (if any) for which the person who committed the
20offence is liable for the period—

(a) beginning with the date with effect from which the person is liable to
be registered under this Part, and

(b) ending with the date on which the Commissioners received notification
of, or otherwise were satisfied as to, the person’s liability to be
25registered under this Part.

(6) In calculating potential lost revenue for the purposes of subsection (4), no
account is to be taken of the fact that a potential loss of revenue from the person
is or may be balanced by a potential over-payment by another person.

(7) In relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1)
30of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 the reference in subsection (4)(a)(i) to 12
months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

Administration and enforcement

98 Payment, collection and recovery

(1) The Commissioners may by regulations make provision about the payment,
35collection and recovery of soft drinks industry levy.

(2) Regulations under subsection (1) may—

(a) require persons who are or are liable to be registered under this Part to
keep accounts for the purposes of the levy in the specified form and
manner;

(b) 40require persons who are or are liable to be registered under this Part to
make returns for the purposes of the levy;

(c) make provision for determining the periods (“accounting periods”) by
reference to which payments of the levy are to be made;

(d) make provision about the times at which payments of the levy are to be
45made and methods of payment;

(e) require the amounts payable by reference to accounting periods to be
calculated by or under the regulations;

(f) make provision for the correction of errors made in accounting for the
levy.

(3) 5Provision may be made by or under regulations under subsection (2)(b)
about—

(a) the periods by reference to which returns are to be made,

(b) the information to be included in returns,

(c) timing, and

(d) 10the form of, and method of, making returns.

(4) Schedule 20 contains provision about recovery and overpayments.

99 Records

(1) The Commissioners may by regulations require persons—

(a) to keep, for purposes connected with soft drinks industry levy, records
15of specified matters, and

(b) to preserve records for a specified period.

(2) A duty under regulations under this section to preserve records may be
discharged—

(a) by preserving them in any form and by any means, or

(b) 20by preserving the information contained in them in any form and by
any means, subject to any specified conditions or exceptions.

(3) The Commissioners may direct a person who is, or is liable to be, registered
under this Part—

(a) to keep such records as are specified in the direction;

(b) 25to preserve those records for a specified period.

(4) The period specified in a direction under subsection (3)(b) may not exceed 6
years.

(5) The Commissioners may not give a direction under subsection (3) unless they
have reasonable grounds for believing that the records specified in the
30direction might assist in identifying chargeable soft drinks in respect of which
soft drinks industry levy might not be paid.

(6) A direction under subsection (3)—

(a) must be given in writing,

(b) must specify the consequences under Schedule 21 of failure to comply
35with a requirement imposed under subsection (3), and

(c) may be revoked or replaced by a further direction.

(7) Schedule 21 makes provision about penalties for failure to comply with
requirements imposed by regulations or directions under this section.

100 Power to make further provision about enforcement

(1) 40The Commissioners may by regulations make further provision about
enforcement of soft drinks industry levy, including provision conferring
powers of entry, search or seizure.

(2) Regulations under this section may include provision—

(a) conferring powers to enter and inspect premises that are used, or are
reasonably believed to be used, in connection with the production,
packaging, sale, import or export of chargeable soft drinks;

(b) 5conferring powers to stop, board and search ships, aircraft and other
vehicles entering, leaving or situated on premises referred to in
paragraph (a);

(c) conferring powers to inspect and take copies of business documents on
premises referred to in paragraph (a);

(d) 10conferring powers to examine and take samples of soft drinks found on
premises referred to in paragraph (a);

(e) for the detention and seizure of chargeable soft drinks in respect of
which a specified requirement of this Part has been contravened;

(f) requiring a person to provide such facilities as are reasonably necessary
15for an officer of Revenue and Customs to carry out an examination or
search or exercise other powers conferred by the regulations;

(g) about reviews of, and appeals against, decisions made for the purposes
of the regulations.

(3) Regulations under this section may, in particular, make provision by applying
20any provision of CEMA 1979.

101 Appeals etc

Schedule 22 makes provision about appeals and reviews.

102 Supplementary amendments

Schedule 23 contains supplementary amendments relating to administration
25and enforcement of soft drinks industry levy.

Miscellaneous

103 Regulations: death, incapacity or insolvency of person carrying on a business

(1) The Commissioners may by regulations make provision for the purposes of
soft drinks industry levy in relation to cases where a person carries on a
30business of—

(a) an individual who has died or become incapacitated;

(b) a person (whether or not an individual) who is subject to an insolvency
procedure (as defined in the regulations).

(2) Regulations under this section may include—

(a) 35provision requiring the person who is carrying on the business (P) to
notify the Commissioners that P is carrying on the business and of the
event that led to P carrying it on;

(b) provision allowing P to be treated for a limited time as if P and the
person who has died, become incapacitated or is subject to an
40insolvency procedure were the same person;

(c) such other provision as the Commissioners think fit for securing
continuity in the application of this Part in cases to which the
regulations apply.

104 Provisional collection of soft drinks industry levy

In section 1 of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968 (temporary
statutory effect of House of Commons resolutions), in subsection (1), after
“aggregates levy,” insert “soft drinks industry levy,”.

5General

105 Interpretation

(1) In this Part—

• “accounting period” is to be construed in accordance with section 98(2)(c);

• “chargeable soft drink” has the meaning given by section 74;

• 10“the Commissioners” means the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s
  Revenue and Customs;

• “compliant warehouse” is to be construed in accordance with section
  78(5);

• “first recipient” and “first receipt”, in relation to imported chargeable soft
  15drinks, have the meaning given by section 79(2) and (4);

• “first seller”, in relation to imported chargeable soft drinks, has the
  meaning given by section 79(9);

• “HMRC” means Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs;

• “package” and “packaged” are to be construed in accordance with section
  2072(3);

• “person who is already registrable” has the meaning given by section
  87(4);

• “prepared drink” has the meaning given by section 73(1);

• “produce”, in relation to chargeable soft drinks, is to be construed in
  25accordance with section 83(2);

• “relevant person” has the meaning given by section 79(5);

• “secondary warehousing condition” has the meaning given by section
  78(4);

• “small producer” has the meaning given by section 84;

• 30“small producer threshold” has the meaning given by section 84(7);

• “soft drink” has the meaning given by section 72(1);

• “sugars” means anything that is required to be described as “sugars” for
  the purposes of a designated food labelling obligation (see subsection
  (3)).

(2) 35In sections 76, 80, 98, 99(1) and (2) and 100 and in paragraph 11 of Schedule 20,
“specified” means specified in regulations made by the Commissioners for the
purposes of this Part.

(3) In the definition of “sugars” in subsection (1), “designated food labelling
obligation” means an obligation that—

(a) 40relates to the provision of nutritional information on the packaging of
food or drinks,

(b) is imposed by an enactment, an EU instrument or subordinate
legislation, and

(c) is designated by regulations made by the Commissioners for the
45purposes of this Part.

(4) Section 1122 of CTA 2010 (meaning of connected person) applies for the
purposes of this Part.

(5) For the purposes of this Part, a person “packages” chargeable soft drinks if—

(a) the person packages soft drinks, and

(b) 5the packaged soft drinks are chargeable soft drinks.

106 Regulations

(1) Regulations under this Part—

(a) may make different provision for different purposes;

(b) may include incidental, consequential, supplementary or transitional
10provision.

(2) Regulations under this Part are to be made by statutory instrument.

(3) A statutory instrument containing regulations under section 100 may not be
made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a
resolution of the House of Commons.

(4) 15Any other statutory instrument containing regulations under this Part is
subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.

(5) But subsection (4) does not apply to a statutory instrument containing only
regulations under section 107 (commencement of this Part).

107 Commencement

(1) 20Subject to subsection (2), this Part comes into force on such day as the
Commissioners may by regulations appoint.

(2) The amendment made by paragraph 3 of Schedule 23 comes into force in
accordance with provision made by the Treasury by regulations.

(3) Regulations under this section may appoint different days for different
25purposes.

Part 4 Fulfilment businesses

108 Carrying on a third country goods fulfilment business

(1) For the purposes of this Part a person carries on a third country goods
30fulfilment business if the person, by way of business—

(a) stores third country goods which are owned by a person who is not
established in a Member State, or

(b) stores third country goods on behalf of a person who is not established
in a Member State,

35at a time when the conditions in subsection (2) are met in relation to the goods.

(2) The conditions are that—

(a) there has been no supply of the goods in the United Kingdom for the
purposes of VATA 1994, and

(b) the goods are being offered for sale in the United Kingdom or
40elsewhere.

(3) But a person does not carry on a third country goods fulfilment business if the
person’s activities within subsection (1) are incidental to the carriage of the
goods.

(4) Goods are “third country” goods if they have been imported from a place
5outside the Member States within the meaning of section 15 of VATA 1994.

(5) Whether a person is established in a Member State is to be determined in
accordance with Article 10 of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/
2011 of 15 March 2011 laying down implementing measures for Directive
2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax.

109 10Requirement for approval

(1) A person may not carry on a third country goods fulfilment business otherwise
than in accordance with an approval given by the Commissioners under this
section.

(2) The Commissioners may approve a person to carry on a third country goods
15fulfilment business only if they are satisfied that the person is a fit and proper
person to carry on the business.

(3) The Commissioners may approve a person to carry on a third country goods
fulfilment business for such periods and subject to such conditions or
restrictions as they may think fit or as they may by regulations made by them
20prescribe.

(4) The Commissioners may at any time for reasonable cause vary the terms of, or
revoke, an approval under this section.

(5) In this Part “approved person” means a person approved under this section to
carry on a third country goods fulfilment business.

110 25Register of approved persons

(1) The Commissioners must maintain a register of approved persons.

(2) The register is to contain such information relating to approved persons as the
Commissioners consider appropriate.

(3) The Commissioners may make publicly available such information contained
30in the register as they consider necessary to enable those who deal with a
person who carries on a third country goods fulfilment business to determine
whether the person in question is an approved person in relation to that
activity.

(4) The information may be made available by such means (including the internet)
35as the Commissioners consider appropriate.

111 Regulations relating to approval, registration etc.

(1) The Commissioners may by regulations make provision—

(a) regulating the approval and registration of persons under this Part,

(b) regulating the variation or revocation of any such approval or
40registration, or of any condition or restriction to which such an
approval or registration is subject,

(c) about the register maintained under section 110,

(d) regulating the carrying on of a third country goods fulfilment business,
and

(e) imposing obligations on approved persons.

(2) The regulations may, in particular, make provision—

(a) 5requiring applications, and other communications with the
Commissioners, to be made electronically;

(b) as to the procedure for the approval and registration of bodies
corporate which are members of the same group;

(c) requiring approved persons to keep and make available for inspection
10such records as may be prescribed by or under the regulations.

112 Disclosure of information by HMRC

(1) The Commissioners may disclose to an approved person information held by
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in connection with a function of Her
Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, but only for the purpose mentioned in
15subsection (2).

(2) The purpose is to assist the approved person in complying with obligations
imposed on that person by virtue of section 111.

(3) An approved person to whom information is disclosed under subsection (1)—

(a) may use the information only for the purpose of complying with
20obligations imposed on that person by virtue of section 111, and

(b) may not further disclose the information except with the consent of the
Commissioners.

(4) Section 19 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (offence)
applies to a disclosure in contravention of subsection (3)(b) as it applies to a
25disclosure, in contravention of section 20(9) of that Act, of revenue and customs
information relating to a person whose identity is specified in the disclosure or
can be deduced from it.

113 Offence

(1) A person who—

(a) 30carries on a third country goods fulfilment business, and

(b) is not an approved person,

commits an offence.

(2) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) it is a defence to show that
the person did not know, and had no reasonable grounds to suspect, that the
35person—

(a) was carrying on a third country goods fulfilment business, or

(b) was not an approved person.

(3) A person is taken to have shown the fact mentioned in subsection (2) if—

(a) sufficient evidence of that fact is adduced to raise an issue with respect
40to it, and

(b) the contrary is not proved beyond reasonable doubt.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary
conviction—

(a) in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12
months, or a fine, or both;

(b) in Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or a
fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both;

(c) 5in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6
months, or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction on
indictment to—

(a) imprisonment for a period not exceeding 7 years,

(b) 10a fine, or

(c) both.

(6) In relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1)
of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 the reference in subsection (4)(a) to 12 months
is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

114 15Forfeiture

(1) If a person—

(a) carries on a third country goods fulfilment business, and

(b) is not an approved person,

any goods within subsection (2) are liable to forfeiture under CEMA 1979.

(2) 20Goods are within this subsection if—

(a) they are stored by the person, and

(b) their storage by the person constitutes, or has constituted, the carrying
on of a third country goods fulfilment business by the person.

115 Penalties

(1) 25Schedule 24 provides for a penalty to be payable by a person who carries on a
third country goods fulfilment business and is not an approved person.

(2) The Commissioners may make regulations (“penalty regulations”) imposing a
penalty for the contravention by an approved person of—

(a) any condition or restriction imposed under this Part;

(b) 30regulations under this Part.

(3) The amount of a penalty imposed by the penalty regulations is to be specified
in the regulations, but must not exceed £3,000.

(4) The penalty regulations may make provision for the assessment and recovery
of a penalty imposed by the regulations.

(5) 35The Commissioners may by regulations make provision for corporate bodies
which are members of the same group to be jointly and severally liable for any
penalties imposed under—

(a) Schedule 24;

(b) penalty regulations.

116 40Appeals

(1) FA 1994 is amended as follows.