# Finance Act 2026, Paragraph 40: Penalties payable in connection with this Schedule

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) But a penalty is not payable under paragraph 38 or 39 if—
(a) P satisfies an officer of Revenue and Customs or, on appeal, the tribunal that there is a reasonable excuse for the failure, or
(b) the penalty would subject P to double jeopardy.
(2) For the purpose of sub-paragraph (1)(a)—
(a) an insufficiency of funds is not a reasonable excuse,
(b) where P relies on any other person to do anything, that is not a reasonable excuse unless P took reasonable care to avoid the failure, and
(c) where P had a reasonable excuse for the failure but the excuse has ceased, P is to be treated as having continued to have the excuse only if the failure is remedied without unreasonable delay after the excuse ceased.
(3) For the purpose of sub-paragraph (1)(b), the penalty would subject P to double jeopardy if, by reason of the conduct constituting the failure, P has been—
(a) convicted of an offence, or
(b) assessed to a penalty other than under paragraph 38 or 39.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/11/schedule/17/paragraph/40 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/finance-act-2026/schedule-17/paragraph-40
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.