TOLLEY_ICON4_SIGNIN Contact us
Home/ Tolley Tax Guidance/ Value Added Tax / Enquiries, penalties and appeals
Value Added Tax

Penalties ― EC Sales List ― failure to file and inaccuracies

Produced by Tolley
  • 23 Mar 2022 10:45

The following Value Added Tax guidance note Produced by Tolley provides comprehensive and up to date tax information covering:

  • Penalties ― EC Sales List ― failure to file and inaccuracies
  • When will a penalty be levied?
  • Failure to submit an ESL
  • Submitting a materially inaccurate ESL
  • Can the penalty be reduced or mitigated?
  • Issuing the Penalty liability notice (PLN)
  • Failure to submit an ESL
  • ESL has a material inaccuracy
  • Is there a deadline for assessing the penalty?
  • Levying the penalty
    • More...

Penalties ― EC Sales List ― failure to file and inaccuracies

This guidance note provides an overview of the penalties that can be imposed on a business that either fails to submit an EC Sales List (ESL) or submits a materially inaccurate ESL. UK VAT registered businesses that make supplies of goods or services to customers who are VAT registered in other EU member states are required to complete and submit an ESL.

Note: EC Sales Lists are only required for businesses sending goods from Northern Ireland to EU member states.

When will a penalty be levied?

The business could be liable to a penalty in respect of the following.

Failure to submit an ESL

A penalty can only be applied on a business that has an obligation to submit an ESL and has failed to do so. Businesses are not required to submit nil ESL and therefore will not be liable to a penalty where no ESL was actually due.

If HMRC has granted permission for individual group members to submit separate ESLs, and one of those members fails to submit a statement when required to do so, the default is not a failure to submit an ESL, it is treated as a material inaccuracy.

The date the ESL must reach HMRC depends on whether a paper or electronic submission is being made:

  1. •

    paper ESL ― within 14 days of the end of the return period

  2. •

    online ESL ― within 21 days of the end of the return period

VCP10900; SI 1995/2518, reg 22; VATA 1994,

Access this article and thousands of others like it
free for 7 days with a trial of TolleyGuidance.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

There's no margin for error. Think Tax.
Think Tolley.

TolleyGuidance gives you direct access to critical, comprehensive and up-to-date tax information and expertise you can rely on.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Popular Articles

Corporation Tax

Research and development expenditure credit (RDEC)

RDEC ― large company R&D reliefSince 1 April 2016, or from 1 April 2013 by election, large company R&D relief is given through research and development expenditure credits (RDEC), which is a taxable credit payable to the company. As the credit is taxable, it is also sometimes called an above the

05 Apr 2022 08:42 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
Corporation Tax

Qualifying charitable donations

Companies can obtain corporation tax relief for qualifying payments or certain transfers of assets to charity under the qualifying charitable donations regime. Definition of qualifying charitable donationThe definition of ‘qualifying charitable donations’ includes:•qualifying cash donations to

21 Jun 2022 09:13 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
Employment Tax

Coronavirus (COVID-19), statutory sick pay (SSP) and NIC

Following Spring Budget 2020, statutory sick pay (SSP) rules were changed temporarily to help workers affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The Chancellor confirmed the Prime Minister’s previous announcement that SSP will be paid from day 1 rather than day 4. Updated guidance on the

16 Jun 2022 00:33 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
Coronavirus (COVID-19)