(1) A person shall not knowingly or recklessly make a statement to a tax officer that is false or misleading in a material particular or omit from a statement made to a tax officer any matter or thing without which —
(a) the statement is misleading in a material particular; and
(b) the tax properly payable by the person exceeds the tax that would be payable if the person were assessed on the basis that the statement is true.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment or a term not exceeding 4 years.
(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a person must pay to the Comptroller the tax payable and the tax payable includes —
(a) in a case where an amount of tax payable by the person would be reduced if it were determined on the basis of the information provided in the statement, the amount by which that tax would have been so reduced; and
(b) in a case where the amount of a refund that the person applied for would be increased if it were determined on the basis of the information provided in the statement, the amount by which that amount would have been so increased.
(4) A reference in this section to a statement made to a tax officer is a reference to a statement made orally, in writing, or in any other form to that officer acting in the performance of the officer's duties under this Act, and includes a statement made —
(a) in an application, certificate, declaration, notification, return, objection, or other document made, prepared, given, filed, lodged, or furnished under this Act;
(b) in any information required to be furnished under this Act;
(c) in a document furnished to a tax officer otherwise than under this Act;
(d) in an answer to a question asked of a person by a tax officer; or
(e) to another person with the knowledge or reasonable expectation that the statement would be conveyed to a tax officer.
(3) It is a defence to a prosecution under subsection (1) that the person did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known that the statement to which the prosecution relates was false or misleading.