Guidance on Penalties for Concealing, Destroying or Disposing of Required Documents

Concealing or destroying documents during a Revenue Scotland information notice process

If Revenue Scotland requires a document, or warns that it is likely to require it under an information notice, hiding, destroying or disposing of that document can lead to a civil penalty and, in some cases, a criminal offence. The rules can apply before a formal notice is issued, but the criminal offence has stricter conditions and usually depends on tribunal approval being involved.

• It can be unlawful to conceal, destroy, dispose of, or arrange for someone else to deal with documents that Revenue Scotland requires or is likely to require.
• A criminal offence may arise where the document is covered by a tribunal-approved information notice, or where Revenue Scotland has said the document is likely to be requested and that tribunal approval will be sought or is required.
• A civil penalty can apply more widely, including where Revenue Scotland has simply notified the person that the document is, or is likely to be, the subject of an information notice.
• Possible criminal penalties include a fine, and in more serious cases up to two years’ imprisonment, or both.
• There are important exceptions, including where documents have already been produced, where only a copy was given and six months pass without a request for the original, or where six months pass after a warning without the document being included in a notice.
• In practice, it is important to check the exact notice, what Revenue Scotland said, whether tribunal approval was mentioned, and the timing of any production or disposal of the documents.

Scroll down for the full analysis.

Concealing, destroying or disposing of documents during a Revenue Scotland information notice process

This page explains when it can be a criminal offence, and when a civil penalty can arise, if a person hides, destroys or gets rid of documents that Revenue Scotland requires, or is likely to require, under an information notice. The rule matters because it can apply before a formal notice is issued as well as after one has been given.

What this rule is about

Revenue Scotland has powers to require documents through an information notice. Those powers would be undermined if a person could simply destroy or hide the documents before handing them over. The legislation therefore creates both criminal and civil consequences where documents are concealed, destroyed or otherwise disposed of.

The source material deals with two related but distinct consequences:

• a criminal offence in more serious cases; and
• a civil penalty.

The trigger for each is similar, but not identical. In particular, the criminal offence has an additional condition where the document has not yet been required by a notice: Revenue Scotland must have told the person not only that the document is, or is likely to be, the subject of an information notice, but also that tribunal approval will be sought or is required.

What the official source says

According to the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 guidance, it is a criminal offence for a person to conceal, destroy or otherwise dispose of a document, or arrange for this to be done, if the document:

• is required to be produced by an information notice that has been approved by the tribunal; or
• is the subject, or likely subject, of an information notice and Revenue Scotland has notified the person both of that fact and that it intends, or is required, to seek tribunal approval for the notice.

If convicted, the person may face:

• on summary conviction, a fine up to the statutory maximum; or
• on conviction on indictment, up to two years’ imprisonment, or a fine, or both.

The guidance also says a person is liable to a civil penalty if they conceal, destroy or otherwise dispose of a document, or arrange for this to be done, where the document:

• is required to be produced by an information notice; or
• is one that Revenue Scotland has notified them is, or is likely to be, the subject of an information notice.

The source then sets out situations where the criminal offence and penalty do not apply. Broadly, there is no offence or penalty where:

• the document has already been produced following an information notice, unless Revenue Scotland has notified the person that the document must continue to be available for inspection;
• more than six months have passed since the person produced a copy of the document in response to an information notice and Revenue Scotland has not asked for the original; or
• more than six months have passed since Revenue Scotland last notified the person that the document might be included in an information notice, and it has still not been included in a notice.

What this means in practice

The practical point is simple: once Revenue Scotland has formally required a document, or has warned that it is likely to do so, you should not destroy, hide or dispose of that document.

This is wider than physically shredding papers. The wording also covers concealing a document or otherwise disposing of it. In practice, that may include conduct designed to put the document out of reach or make it unavailable. The rule also catches arranging for someone else to do it.

The criminal offence is narrower than the civil penalty. For the criminal offence, the source material ties the offence to tribunal-approved information notices, or to advance notification that includes the tribunal-approval point. By contrast, the civil penalty can apply where a document is required by an information notice, or where Revenue Scotland has notified the person that the document is, or is likely to be, the subject of an information notice.

The exceptions are also important. The legislation does not require indefinite preservation in every case. If a document has already been produced and Revenue Scotland has not said it must remain available for inspection, or if the relevant six-month period has expired without further action, the offence and penalty may cease to apply.

How to analyse it

A sensible way to analyse the issue is to ask these questions in order:

• What document is in question? Be clear about the specific document or class of documents.
• Has an information notice already required it to be produced? If yes, check the terms of the notice.
• If not, has Revenue Scotland notified the person that the document is, or is likely to be, the subject of an information notice?
• For possible criminal liability, did that notification also say that tribunal approval would be sought or was required?
• What happened to the document? Was it concealed, destroyed, otherwise disposed of, or was someone else arranged to do this?
• Has the document already been produced to Revenue Scotland?
• If only a copy was produced, has more than six months passed without Revenue Scotland asking for the original?
• If Revenue Scotland only warned that the document might be included in a notice, has more than six months passed since that warning without the document actually being included in a notice?
• Has Revenue Scotland specifically required the document to remain available for inspection after it was produced?

This framework helps separate three issues that are easy to blur together: whether the document was within scope, whether the conduct is caught, and whether one of the statutory exceptions has switched off liability.

Example

Illustration: Revenue Scotland tells a taxpayer that certain bank statements are likely to be required by an information notice. It also says tribunal approval will be sought. Before the notice is issued, the taxpayer deletes the statements from storage and arranges for paper copies to be destroyed. On these facts, the conduct may fall within the criminal offence regime as described in the source, because the documents were likely to be the subject of a tribunal-approved information notice and the taxpayer had been notified accordingly.

By contrast, if Revenue Scotland had only said that documents might be requested, and then took no further step for more than six months, the source indicates that the offence and penalty would not apply after that six-month period if the document had not been included in a notice.

Why this can be difficult in practice

Several points may be fact-sensitive.

First, the boundary between ordinary document management and prohibited disposal may not always be obvious. The source uses broad language, including concealment and otherwise disposing of a document. Whether particular conduct falls within that wording may depend on what happened and why.

Second, timing matters. Liability can depend on exactly when Revenue Scotland gave notice, when the document was produced, whether only a copy was provided, and whether six months have passed. A small difference in chronology may change the result.

Third, the criminal offence and the civil penalty do not appear in identical terms in the source. A person may need to consider separately whether the facts potentially engage criminal liability, civil penalty exposure, or both.

Fourth, the exception for documents already produced is not absolute. If Revenue Scotland has said the original must continue to be available for inspection, disposing of it can still matter. So it is not enough to assume that once a copy has been sent, the original can always be discarded immediately.

Key takeaways

• Destroying, hiding or disposing of documents connected with an information notice can trigger both criminal and civil consequences.
• The rules can apply even before a formal notice is issued if Revenue Scotland has warned that the document is, or is likely to be, the subject of a notice.
• Check carefully whether a statutory exception applies, especially where documents have already been produced or the six-month periods have expired.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Guidance on Penalties for Concealing, Destroying or Disposing of Required Documents

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