It's an offence to tear up a bill out East (5)
I believe the answer is:
libel
'it's an offence' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'up a bill out east' is the wordplay.
'up' indicates anagramming the letters (letters get chucked up).
'out' is an insertion indicator.
'east' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'bill' is an anagram of 'libl'.
'libl' enclosing 'e' is 'LIBEL'.
'to tear' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for libel that I've seen before include "Actionable words" , "false report" , "Crime of publishing false statement that damages reputation" , "False and malicious publication to defame" , "Report bad things" .)