Guidance on Revenue Scotland’s Correction of Claims for Obvious Errors or Omissions

Revenue Scotland corrections to standalone repayment claims

Revenue Scotland can make limited corrections to a repayment or discharge claim that was made separately from a tax return if there is an obvious error or omission. It must tell the claimant about the correction, process the claim as soon as practicable, and act within strict time limits. The claimant can reject the correction if they respond in time.

• This rule only applies to claims made outside a tax return, such as standalone claims for repayment or discharge.
• Revenue Scotland may correct obvious mistakes or omissions, including simple arithmetic errors, transposed details, or some clear errors of principle.
• It must issue a notice of correction and then give effect to the claim by making the repayment or discharge as soon as reasonably possible.
• The correction power cannot be used more than nine months after Revenue Scotland received the claim.
• The power also cannot be used while an enquiry into the claim is open.
• If the claimant disagrees, they can reject the correction by notifying Revenue Scotland within three months from the date of the correction notice.

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Revenue Scotland corrections of repayment claims: obvious errors and how long they can act

This page explains when Revenue Scotland can correct a claim for repayment or discharge if the claim is not part of a tax return. The rule is narrow. It allows Revenue Scotland to fix obvious mistakes or omissions in the claim, tell you what it has done, and then process the claim. It also sets strict time limits and gives you a right to reject the correction.

What this rule is about

Some claims are made separately from a tax return. For example, a person may submit a claim asking Revenue Scotland to repay tax or discharge an amount. If that claim contains an obvious mistake, Revenue Scotland does not always need to open a full enquiry before dealing with it. Instead, the legislation allows a limited correction process.

The purpose of the rule is administrative efficiency. It lets Revenue Scotland correct clear mistakes on the face of the claim, rather than leaving the claim unprocessed or requiring a more formal dispute process for something straightforward.

This is not a general power to rewrite a claim. The power is only to correct an obvious error or omission.

What the official source says

Revenue Scotland states that it may amend a claim to correct an obvious error or omission. It will notify the claimant if it makes such a correction. The guidance says that an error can include an arithmetical mistake or an error of principle, and gives as an example entering a forename and surname the wrong way round.

After making the correction, Revenue Scotland will give effect to the claim by making the repayment or discharge, as appropriate, as soon as practicable.

The power is time-limited. Revenue Scotland cannot make this kind of correction:

• more than nine months after the claim was made, meaning nine months after Revenue Scotland received it, or
• during the period when an enquiry is open, if Revenue Scotland has given notice of enquiry into the claim.

The guidance also says that the claimant may reject the correction, but only by notifying Revenue Scotland within three months beginning with the date on which the notice of correction was issued.

The cited legal basis is schedule 3 paragraphs 11 and 12 of the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014.

What this means in practice

If your standalone claim contains a clear mistake, Revenue Scotland may correct it itself rather than asking you to start again. Typical examples are likely to be simple calculation errors, obvious transpositions, or similar mistakes that can be identified from the claim and its context.

If Revenue Scotland does correct the claim, it must tell you. That matters because the correction may affect the amount repaid or discharged, or may alter how the claim is recorded.

Once the correction is made, Revenue Scotland should process the claim without unnecessary delay.

The nine-month limit is important. After that period, this particular correction power is no longer available. Equally, once Revenue Scotland has opened an enquiry into the claim, it cannot use this correction power while that enquiry remains open. At that stage, the claim is dealt with through the enquiry process instead.

You are not forced to accept the correction. If you think Revenue Scotland has gone beyond correcting an obvious mistake, or has corrected the claim in the wrong way, you can reject the correction. But the time limit is short: three months from the date of the notice of correction.

How to analyse it

When looking at a correction made by Revenue Scotland, it helps to ask these questions:

• Is the document in question a claim that is separate from a tax return? This rule is aimed at claims for repayment or similar claims that are not made within a return.
• Is the issue really an obvious error or omission? The narrower and clearer the mistake, the more likely this correction power applies.
• Was the correction made within nine months of Revenue Scotland receiving the claim?
• Was an enquiry already open when the correction was made? If so, this correction power should not be used during the enquiry period.
• Did Revenue Scotland issue a notice of correction?
• If you disagree, have you rejected the correction within three months of the notice?

A useful practical distinction is between a clear mistake and a substantive disagreement about the claim. If the point requires detailed interpretation, evidence, or judgement, it may be less likely to be an obvious error suitable for correction under this power.

Example

Illustration: a claimant submits a repayment claim and the figures in the claim show a simple addition error. Revenue Scotland identifies the arithmetic mistake, corrects the amount, and sends a notice explaining the correction. It then processes the corrected claim and makes the repayment as soon as practicable.

If the claimant believes Revenue Scotland has done more than correct an obvious arithmetic mistake, and has instead changed the substance of the claim, the claimant can notify Revenue Scotland that the correction is rejected. That rejection must be made within three months from the date of the correction notice.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The main difficulty is deciding what counts as an obvious error or omission. Some mistakes are plainly mechanical, such as arithmetic slips. Others may look simple to Revenue Scotland but may actually involve a legal or factual judgement. The guidance says an error can include an error of principle, which shows that the category is not limited to arithmetic. But that does not mean every arguable issue can be treated as an obvious error.

There can also be practical confusion about timing. The nine-month period runs from the date Revenue Scotland received the claim, not from the date the claimant signed or sent it. Separately, the three-month period for rejecting a correction runs from the date the correction notice was issued.

Another point to watch is the interaction with enquiries. Once Revenue Scotland has given notice of enquiry, this correction power is switched off for the duration of that enquiry. In practice, that means the route Revenue Scotland uses matters, because corrections and enquiries are different statutory mechanisms.

Key takeaways

• Revenue Scotland can correct an obvious error or omission in a standalone claim for repayment or discharge, and must notify you if it does so.
• This correction power is limited: it cannot be used more than nine months after the claim was received, or while an enquiry into the claim is open.
• You can reject the correction, but you must notify Revenue Scotland within three months from the date of the correction notice.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Guidance on Revenue Scotland’s Correction of Claims for Obvious Errors or Omissions

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