UK Offence Report

Amendments to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1979

regulation 2(3) of The Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment) Regulations 2001

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

3 After paragraph (3) add— 4 Subject to paragraph (9) of this regulation, where a person becomes liable to pay a Class 2 contribution and fails to notify immediately the Inland Revenue in accordance with paragraph (1) of this regulation, he shall be liable to a penalty of £100.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
failing to notify or register
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 2(3)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Not telling the authority about an event the instrument makes notifiable under the Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment) Regulations 2001, or telling them after the period allowed has run out.
  2. Assuming a notification made for another purpose, or by somebody else, satisfies this requirement.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
£100
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
9 January 2001
In force from
31 January 2001
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations amend regulation 53A of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1979 (S.I. 1979/591) (notification of commencement or cessation of payment of Class 2 or Class 3 contributions). The amendments provide for a penalty of £100 in respect of the failure by a person becoming liable to pay a Class 2 contribution to notify the Inland Revenue in accordance with paragraph (1) of regulation 53A. The costs to business of the amendments made by these Regulations are covered in the Regulatory Impact Assessment for these Regulations. A copy of this Assessment can be obtained from Jenny Fox, Inland Revenue, Cross Cutting Policy, Room 432, 22 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NR. A copy of the Assessment is available also on the Inland Revenue website (http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk) and has been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.68.

Basis
the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.68 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source