Finance Act, 2001

Evasion of excise duty.

119.—(1) It is an offence under this subsection for any person to take possession, custody or charge of, or to remove, transport, deposit or conceal, or to otherwise deal with, excisable products in respect of which any duty of excise is for the time being payable, with intent to defraud, either directly or indirectly, the State of such duty.

(2) It is an offence under this subsection for any person to be concerned in the evasion or attempted evasion of a duty of excise on excisable products with intent to defraud either directly or indirectly the State of such duty.

(3) Without prejudice to any other penalty to which a person may be liable, a person convicted of an offence under this subsection is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine of £1,500, or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both,

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of 3 times the value of the excisable products concerned, including any duty or tax chargeable thereon, or £10,000, whichever is the greater, or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.