Obtaining information and documents: supplementary
36.Sections 267 to 271 are administrative provisions for the information notice sections 255 to 264. They are equivalent to similar provisions in Schedule 36 Finance Act 2008. Section 267 allows the Commissioners to specify the form and manner in which information and documents are to be provided. Section 268 allows the person who has received the notice to provide a copy of a document unless required to provide the original. Section 269 exempts certain documents from the information notice and section 270 limits the production of documents to those in the person’s possession or power and excludes certain old documents. Section 271 exempts from disclosure any privileged information. This is information subject to legal professional privilege, or for Scotland, confidentiality of communications.
37.Section 272 only applies to notices under section 258 – the duty of a person dealing with a monitored promoter outside the UK. It provides an exemption where the person to whom the authorised officer serves the information notice under section 258 is a tax adviser. The exemption applies to information and documents about or which are relevant communications between the tax adviser and its clients or another tax adviser of that client (subsections (2) and (5)).
38.Section 273 enables clients and intermediaries to ignore a non-disclosure agreement they have with the monitored promoter if they want to provide information or documents to HMRC. The information can be about the monitored promoter itself or its relevant proposals and relevant arrangements. The information is not restricted to proposals and arrangements that the client or intermediary has used or communicated about; it can be information about other proposals or arrangements of the monitored promoter.
