Section 17: Use of information
86.This section allows the new department, subject to suitable safeguards, to use any of its information, including information inherited from the predecessor departments, to support any function of the department, not just the particular function from which the information was originally derived. This will supersede existing provisions to pool information within a department, together with the existing provision in section 127 Finance Act 1972. Section 127 authorises either set of predecessor Commissioners or their officers to disclose information to the other set of Commissioners or officers for the purpose of assisting the receiving set in the performance of their duties. It will be repealed, as no longer required, on the coming into existence of the new department.
87.Subsection (1) states the general principle that information acquired by “the Revenue and Customs” (as defined in subsection (3)) in connection with one of their functions may be used by them in connection with any other function. A similar provision is contained in section 435 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in relation to the use of information, including taxpayer information, by the Asset Recovery Agency.
88.Subsection (2) makes the general principle subject to certain exceptions. These are any restriction or prohibition which expressly limits the use of information, as imposed by:
this Act itself, such as section 22, or Part 2 of Schedule 2, which limits the use of certain information in relation to disclosures to other government departments, to prevent the integration of the former departments extending the scope of the information that may be disclosed;
any other enactment, such as the Human Rights Act 1998; and
any international or other agreement of the United Kingdom or Her Majesty’s Government. An example of an international agreement would be a Double Tax Treaty concluded under section 815 C Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988, containing an express limitation on use of information obtained from a foreign tax authority. A further example of an “other” agreement would be the UK and Isle of Man Revenue Sharing Agreement of 15 October 1979, as amended, containing a limitation on use of information obtained from the Isle of Man Customs and Excise Service. As the Isle of Man is not a state in international law, it does not have the capacity to conclude “international” agreements.
89.Subsection (3) defines “the Revenue and Customs” for the purposes of subsection (1) as the Commissioners for HMRC, their officers, those, such as contractors, who act on their behalf, and members of committees established by the Commissioners under section 12(1)(b). It also includes the former Commissioners of Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue and their officers, thereby bringing the holdings of information inherited from those organisations within the new Commissioners’ information pool.
90.Subsection (4) defines “function” in subsection (1) to mean a function of any of the persons who are defined as constituting “the Revenue and Customs”. In this way, information derived from any spent, or obsolescent functions of the former Commissioners or officers may also be included in the new Commissioners’ information pool.
91.Subsection (5) provides that the reference to “enactment” in subsection (2)(b) does not include legislation of the devolved institutions, which is not relevant here.
92.Subsection (6) introduces Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the Act, which deals with certain exceptions.
