Guidance on Information Notices: Requirements, Timeframes, and Rights for Tax Checks
Revenue Scotland Information Notices: What They Can Require
A Revenue Scotland information notice is a formal demand for information, documents, or both, but only where they are reasonably required to check a tax position. The notice should clearly explain what is needed, allow a reasonable time to respond, and set out any review or appeal rights. A 30-day deadline is a common starting point, but more time may be appropriate depending on the circumstances.
- Revenue Scotland can only ask for information or documents that are reasonably required to check a specific tax position.
- The notice should describe what is required as clearly and narrowly as possible, including the time, form, and method for providing it.
- Thirty days is usually the starting point for compliance, but longer may be allowed where records are archived, held by others, or need careful review.
- Recipients should check whether the request is relevant, clear, and realistic, and may ask for more time if needed.
- The notice should explain any rights to review or appeal, and say if tribunal approval has been obtained.
- Minor errors do not automatically invalidate a notice, but a substantial mistake may mean Revenue Scotland must issue a fresh one.
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Read the original guidance here:
Guidance on Information Notices: Requirements, Timeframes, and Rights for Tax Checks
Revenue Scotland information notices: what they can require and how they should work
This page explains the general rules on information notices issued by Revenue Scotland under the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014. An information notice is a formal notice requiring a person to provide information, produce documents, or both. The key question is whether what is being asked for is reasonably required to check a tax position. That matters because the notice can be compulsory, but Revenue Scotland must still stay within legal limits.
What this rule is about
Revenue Scotland has powers to check whether a tax position is correct. In that context, it may issue an information notice. The notice is a formal step in an enquiry or compliance check. It is not simply a general request for anything Revenue Scotland would like to see.
The legal control built into the regime is that the information or documents requested must be reasonably required for checking a tax position. The notice must also say what is required and give a reasonable time for compliance. It should explain what rights the recipient has to challenge the notice.
This guidance is about the general content and operation of an information notice. It does not set out every restriction on the power, but it points to separate guidance dealing with those restrictions.
What the official source says
According to the guidance, an information notice may require a person to do one or both of the following:
- provide information; and
- produce a document.
That can only be required if the information or document is reasonably required by Revenue Scotland for the purpose of checking a tax position.
The notice may specify or describe:
- the information required;
- the documents required; and
- the time, means and form in which they must be provided or produced.
The time allowed must be reasonable. Revenue Scotland says it will consider each notice individually. As a starting point, it assumes that most information or documents could be provided within 30 days from the date of the notice, but longer periods may be offered or agreed depending on the circumstances.
The guidance says Revenue Scotland will take account of practical factors, such as:
- whether the request is simple;
- whether the documents are readily available;
- whether material must be retrieved from archive storage; and
- whether time is needed to sift documents and decide whether only parts need to be produced.
Revenue Scotland also says it will consider reasonable requests for more time.
As to how the notice should identify what is wanted, the guidance says the information or documents must be specified as clearly as possible. If a particular document cannot be identified precisely, the notice should describe the material as clearly and narrowly as possible. The example given is correspondence with a named company during a stated period.
The notice should also explain the recipient’s rights, including when a review or appeal may be available. If the notice has tribunal approval, it must say so.
Finally, the guidance says that a notice is not automatically invalid just because it has a form error, mistake, defect or omission, provided it still reflects the intention and meaning of the law and adequately identifies the affected person. If the error is substantial, a fresh notice may be needed.
What this means in practice
The practical starting point is to ask: what tax issue is Revenue Scotland checking, and how does each item requested relate to that issue? The notice should not be read as giving Revenue Scotland an unlimited right to inspect everything. There must be a link between the request and checking a tax position, and that link must be reasonable.
For taxpayers and advisers, three points matter straight away.
- First, check exactly what the notice asks for. Some notices ask for information, some for documents, and some for both.
- Second, check whether the request is clear enough. A notice can describe categories of documents rather than naming each one, but the description should still be narrow and understandable.
- Third, check the deadline. Thirty days is Revenue Scotland’s stated starting point, not an absolute rule. If compliance within that period is unrealistic, there may be scope to ask for more time.
In a property tax context, this can be important where records are held by solicitors, agents, group companies, archived systems, or former advisers. It can also matter where only part of a document is relevant and the recipient needs time to identify what falls within the notice.
The point about mistakes is also practical. A recipient should not assume that a notice can simply be ignored because it contains a technical defect. If the notice still makes legal and practical sense and identifies the right person, the defect may not invalidate it. On the other hand, a substantial error may justify Revenue Scotland issuing a fresh notice instead.
How to analyse it
A sensible way to analyse an information notice is to work through the following questions.
- Who is the notice addressed to? The person affected must be adequately identified.
- What tax position is being checked? The request should be connected to that issue.
- What is being required: information, documents, or both?
- Is each item reasonably required for checking that tax position?
- Is the request clear enough? If it uses broad categories, are they still described as narrowly as possible?
- Is the time for compliance reasonable in light of how easy or difficult it will be to gather the material?
- Does the notice explain any review or appeal rights?
- If the notice says it has tribunal approval, is that stated clearly?
- Are there any obvious mistakes, and if so, are they minor defects or substantial errors?
If the problem is mainly timing, the guidance suggests that a practical request for an extension may be the right first step. The request should explain why more time is needed, for example because records are archived, held elsewhere, or require careful review before production.
Example
Illustration: Revenue Scotland is checking the LBTT treatment of a land transaction. It issues a notice requiring the buyer to produce the sale contract, completion statement, and correspondence with the seller’s solicitors about any side agreement affecting consideration. It asks for these within 30 days.
That kind of notice is likely to be easier to justify if those documents are directly relevant to the amount of chargeable consideration or the nature of the transaction. If the documents are readily available, 30 days may be reasonable.
Suppose, however, the notice also asks for a wide range of correspondence over a long period using a very broad description, and the relevant records are held in archive storage. In that situation, two separate questions arise:
- is the description of the documents clear and narrow enough; and
- is the deadline still reasonable given the work needed to retrieve and review the material?
The guidance indicates that Revenue Scotland should consider both points and may agree more time where the request is justified.
Why this can be difficult in practice
The phrase reasonably required is important, but it is also fact-sensitive. It does not produce a mechanical answer. A request that is reasonable in one case may be excessive in another, depending on the tax issue under review and how closely the material relates to it.
There can also be disagreement about how specific a notice needs to be. Revenue Scotland accepts that some general description may be necessary, but says it should be used as narrowly as possible. In practice, arguments often arise where a category of documents is expressed broadly enough to catch large volumes of material.
Timing can be another source of difficulty. Revenue Scotland’s 30-day starting point is only that: a starting point. It does not mean 30 days is always reasonable. The real test is whether the period is reasonable for the particular notice, taking account of the nature and accessibility of the material.
Finally, defects in notices can be misunderstood. Not every error makes a notice invalid. The question is whether the notice still achieves what the legislation requires and whether the affected person is adequately identified. That can involve judgement, especially where the error is more than trivial but not obviously fatal.
Key takeaways
- An information notice can require information, documents, or both, but only if they are reasonably required to check a tax position.
- The notice should clearly identify what is wanted and give a reasonable time to comply; 30 days is a starting point, not a fixed rule.
- A mistake in a notice does not automatically make it void, but substantial errors may require a fresh notice.
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Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Guidance on Information Notices: Requirements, Timeframes, and Rights for Tax Checks
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