{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-act-2023/section-146",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-act-2023/section-146.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2023/56",
  "legislation_title": "Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/economic-crime-and-corporate-transparency-act-2023",
  "path": "section/146",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "146",
  "heading": "General false statement offences",
  "text": "After section 33 of the Limited Partnerships Act 1907 (inserted by section 145 of this Act) insert—\n“False statements: basic offence\n34 (1) It is an offence for a person, without reasonable excuse, to—\n(a) deliver or cause to be delivered to the registrar, for the purposes of this Act, a document that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular, or\n(b) make to the registrar, for the purposes of this Act, a statement that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular.\n(2) Where the offence is committed by a legal entity, every managing officer of the entity who is in default also commits the offence.\n(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—\n(a) on summary conviction in England and Wales, to a fine;\n(b) on summary conviction in Scotland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;\n(c) on summary conviction in Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.\n(4) A managing officer is “in default” for the purposes of this section if they authorise or permit, participate in, or fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent, the contravention.\n(5) But a corporate managing officer does not commit an offence as a managing officer in default unless one of its managing officers is in default.\n(6) Where any such offence is committed by a corporate managing officer the managing officer in question also commits the offence (subject to subsection (5)).\nFalse statements: aggravated offence\n35 (1) It is an offence for a person knowingly to—\n(a) deliver or cause to be delivered to the registrar, for the purposes of this Act, a document that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular, or\n(b) make to the registrar, for the purposes of this Act, a statement that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular.\n(2) Where the offence is committed by a legal entity, every managing officer of the entity who is in default also commits the offence.\n(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—\n(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine (or both);\n(b) on summary conviction—\n(i) in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court or a fine (or both);\n(ii) in Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both);\n(iii) in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both).\n(4) A managing officer is “in default” for the purposes of this section if they authorise or permit, participate in, or fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent, the contravention.\n(5) But a corporate managing officer does not commit an offence as a managing officer in default unless one of its managing officers is in default.\n(6) Where any such offence is committed by a corporate managing officer the managing officer in question also commits the offence (subject to subsection (5)).”",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 146 in force at Royal Assent for specified purposes, see s. 219(1)(2)(b)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/56/section/146",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T08:49:37.581581+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}