ECSH82805 - Sanctions for non-compliance: financial penalties: financial penalties framework: type 4 (failure to provide information or access to business premises)
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-01)


Type 4 penalties can be applied when a business or individual fails to comply in full or in part with a notice issued under regulation 66 of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017) or failure to allow access to business premises without a warrant etc. under regulation 69 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/economic-crime-supervision-handbook/ecsh73000) MLR 2017.

Failure to provide information.

Where a business or individual fails to provide documents and/or information following an informal request, HMRC have the option to issue a notice under regulation 66 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/66) MLR 2017, requiring the business or individual to provide that information within a specified period of time. More information on regulation 66 is available at ECSH71500 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/economic-crime-supervision-handbook/ecsh71500).

If a business does not provide the relevant information, the decision maker (DM) should consider what this means in terms of the risk posed by the business and what an appropriate response might be. We are unlikely to know WHY a business has not provided information, but we may be able to determine how significant that failure is and what it means for the risks associated with that business. It may be that a sanction is appropriate, see ECSH80500. (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/economic-crime-supervision-handbook/ecsh80500)

In many cases, this will be a financial penalty, but the DM will need to consider the circumstances to determine the appropriate outcome. It may be, for example, in a business about which we have significant concerns about unaddressed money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing risks, that it would be appropriate to suspend the business’ registration if the necessary information is not supplied on time.

Unlike penalties in types 1, 2 and 3, type 4 penalties do not attract any discounts, including for prompt payment.

Type 4 penalties are subject to a sanctions administration charge (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/economic-crime-supervision-handbook/ecsh81080#) capped to a maximum of £350.

Penalties under type 4 increase with the continued failure to comply with the requirement to produce documents and/or information specified in the notice.

Failure to comply with the notice attracts a £1,000 penalty on the first day after the deadline. When the failure to comply continues after this, a penalty of £60 applies for each further day that the notice is not complied with, up to 29 days. On day 30 after the original deadline, if the business or individual has still not complied with the notice, a further £1,000 penalty applies. So, the total payable after 30 days will be £3,740, that is £1,000 + (29 x £60) + £1,000 = £3,740.

This further penalty is not subject to an additional sanctions administration charge (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/economic-crime-supervision-handbook/ecsh81080#).

If the business or individual still does not comply with the requirements of the notice, after 30 days, the DM should consider what other sanctions are appropriate, for example we may have sufficient concerns about the economic crime risks posed by the business’ poor attitude to and ability to comply that suspension, or cancellation (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/economic-crime-supervision-handbook/ecsh83590), is appropriate. The sanctions to be applied will very much depend on the facts of the case.

A notice (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/economic-crime-supervision-handbook/ecsh71500) under regulation 66 can require a business or individual to attend a meeting and answer questions at a specified time or place. A penalty of £5,000 may be charged where there is a failure to comply with the requirement to attend a meeting. At this stage, the DM should consider options for next steps including whether other sanctions are appropriate.

Failure to allow access to business premises.

Where the powers under regulation 69 (see ECSH73000 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/economic-crime-supervision-handbook/ecsh73000)) have been exercised, but the business or individual refuses entry and/or prevents the officer from exercising the power, an initial £5,000 penalty may be charged. If access is denied when HMRC returns for a second visit, an additional penalty of £5,000 may be charged, making a total of £10,000.

Failure to allow HMRC access to a premises is a serious issue and could mean that the business has something to hide. The DM should consider whether further sanctions might be appropriate, depending on the facts of the case.