- Electronic Sales Suppression (ESS) is also known as till fraud or till manipulation.
- ESS involves manipulating till systems to hide or reduce the true value or number of sales.
- Businesses do this to reduce their turnover and pay less tax.
- ESS is considered tax fraud.
- An ESS tool is a piece of software, computer code script, or hardware that allows a business to hide or reduce the value of individual transactions on electronic sales records.
- You do not have to have used an ESS tool to be charged a penalty for being involved in ESS.
- HMRC has the power to issue an information notice for ESS and can ask for specific information related to ESS.
- A ‘relevant person’ is anyone who HMRC believes may be involved in ESS and can be charged a penalty.
- A ‘relevant purpose’ is the reason HMRC is asking for information about ESS and ESS tools.
- HMRC is offering an opportunity for those involved in ESS to make a disclosure, which could lead to a reduction in financial penalties.
Source: deeksvat.co.uk
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
