Taxation
(Accounting Records) (Jersey) Regulations 2013
1 Interpretation
(1) In these Regulations,
the “1961 Law” means the Income Tax (Jersey) Law 1961.
(2) An expression used in
these Regulations which is also used in the 1961 Law has the same meaning
as in that Law, unless otherwise indicated.
(3) In these Regulations,
reference to a record includes information recorded in any form and, in
relation to information recorded otherwise than in legible form, reference to
furnishing a record includes reference to furnishing a copy of the record in
legible form.
(4) In these Regulations,
“person” includes a partnership and an obligation for a person to
take an action is, in the case of a partnership, an obligation for both the
partnership and the general partners in the partnership to take that action.[1]
2 Application
(1) These Regulations apply
to every person in receipt or possession of any income or of any profits
arising from the carrying on of a business or from the letting of property.
(2) It does not matter, for
the purpose of the application of these Regulations, whether or not a person is
required to make a statement or other return to the Comptroller in respect of
liability to tax under the 1961 Law.
(3) A requirement imposed
by these Regulations shall apply in addition to, and not in derogation from,
any duty or requirement to keep or deal with accounts or records imposed by or
under the 1961 Law or any other enactment.
3 Adequacy
of accounting records
(1) A person to whom these
Regulations apply shall make and keep adequate accounting records in accordance
with the provisions of this Regulation and Regulations 4 to 6.
(2) Accounting records are
adequate if –
(a) they
are such as to enable the preparation of accounts and –
(i) to show and
explain the person’s transactions,
(ii) to
disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the
person at that time,
and
(b) they
fulfil the requirements of either paragraph (3) or paragraph (4), as
the case may be.
(3) In the case of a person
carrying on a business, accounting records are not adequate unless they contain –
(a) records
of all amounts received and expended by the business and the reasons for the
receipt or expenditure;
(b) in
the case of a business dealing in goods, records of all sales and purchases of
goods made in the course of the business;
(c) records
of all assets and liabilities of the business, including in particular –
(i) all shares,
interests or units held by the business in any other person or arrangement, and
(ii) records
of all stock in hand at the end of the year of assessment and a statement of
the basis on which the stock is valued;
(d) all
invoices, receipts, certificates, contracts, vouchers or other supporting
documents relating to records described in paragraphs (a) to (c); and
(e) in a
case where there are no supporting documents in relation to any goods purchased
by the business, the name and address of the supplier of the goods.
(4) In the case of any
other person, accounting records are not adequate unless they contain, in
relation to the person’s income –
(a) records
of all amounts received, arising or accruing;
(b) the
names and descriptions of the persons or sources from which the amounts so
recorded were received, arose or accrued;
(c) records
of all assets and liabilities of the person, including in particular –
(i) all shares,
interests or units held by the person in any other legal person or arrangement,
and
(ii) records
of all stock in hand at the end of the relevant year of assessment and a
statement of the basis on which the stock is valued;
(d) any
other records which contain or may contain information relevant to any
liability to tax to which the person is or may be subject or the amount of any
such liability;
(e) all
invoices, receipts, certificates, contracts, vouchers or other supporting
documents relating to records described in paragraphs (a), (c) and (d).
(5) A person who, without
reasonable excuse, fails to comply with this Regulation shall be guilty of an
offence and liable to a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[2]
4 Preservation
of accounting records
(1) Accounting records made
by a person under Regulation 3 shall be kept by the person for a period of
at least 6 years beginning immediately after the end of –
(a) the
year of assessment in relation to which a statement as to income is required to
be delivered under Part 4 of the 1961 Law; or
(b) where
no such return is required to be delivered, the calendar year in which the
accounting record or document in question was created.
(2) A person who, without
reasonable excuse, fails to comply with paragraph (1) shall be guilty of
an offence and liable to a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[3]
5 Duty
to produce accounting records
(1) The Comptroller may by
notice served on any person to whom these Regulations apply require the person
to furnish, by such a date or within such a period as may be specified in the
notice, such accounting records or part of those records as the Comptroller may
require for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the requirements imposed
by Regulations 3, 4 and 6 are being fulfilled.
(2) A person who, without
reasonable excuse, fails to furnish accounting records in compliance with a
notice served by the Comptroller under paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an
offence and liable to a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[4]
6 Accounting
records kept outside Jersey
(1) Where accounting
records are kept outside Jersey, the person on whom the requirement to keep
those records is imposed shall ensure –
(a) that
the records remain within that person’s power and control; and
(b) that
effective arrangements are in place for delivery of the records to Jersey
and –
(i) for the records
to be furnished to the Comptroller in accordance with any notice served in
relation to them under Regulation 5, and
(ii) for
the records to be furnished, disclosed, delivered or in any way provided to the
Comptroller or any other person in accordance with any requirement to do so
imposed by or under the 1961 Law or any other enactment.
(2) In this Regulation and
in Regulation 7, “records” includes all such supporting
documents and information as described in Regulation 3(3) and (4).
(3) A person who, without
reasonable excuse, fails to comply with this Regulation shall be guilty of an
offence and liable to a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[5]
7 Penalties
for fraudulently or negligently furnishing false or incorrect accounts, etc.
(1) If any person
fraudulently or negligently furnishes to the Comptroller any incorrect accounts
or records in purported compliance with these Regulations, the person shall be
guilty of an offence.
(2) Where an offence under
paragraph (1) –
(a) is
committed negligently, the person shall be liable to a fine of level 3 on
the standard scale;
(b) is
committed fraudulently, the person shall be liable to imprisonment for a term
of 5 years and to a fine.[6]
(3) Where any accounts or
records are made or furnished by a person neither fraudulently nor negligently
but it comes to the person’s notice that they are incorrect, the accounts
or records shall be treated for the purposes of this Regulation as having been
negligently made or furnished, unless the error is remedied without
unreasonable delay.
8 Penalty
to be imposed by Comptroller
(1) If, in the opinion of
the Comptroller –
(a) a
person has failed to make and keep adequate accounting records in accordance
with these Regulations; and
(b) that
failure may adversely affect the Comptroller’s performance of a function
under the 1961 Law or any other enactment,
the Comptroller may impose on the person a penalty not exceeding
£2,500.
(2) An appeal shall lie to
the Commissioners against a penalty imposed by the Comptroller under paragraph (1)
and the provisions of Articles 27 to 36 of the 1961 Law
shall apply accordingly in respect of any such appeal as if it were an appeal
under that Law.
9 Penalties
to belong to States’ revenues
All penalties recovered under these Regulations shall be paid into
the consolidated fund.
10 Citation
These Regulations may be
cited as the Taxation (Accounting Records) (Jersey) Regulations 2013.