Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018

Supplementary

25 Disclosure of information

(1) HMRC (or anyone acting on their behalf) may disclose information relating to import duty for customs duty purposes.

(2) In this section “customs duty purposes” means purposes in connection with, or otherwise incidental to, the imposition, enforcement or other regulation of import duty.

(3) A person who receives information as a result of this section may not further disclose the information except with the consent of the HMRC Commissioners (which may be general or specific).

(4) A person who receives information as a result of this section may use the information only for customs duty purposes.

(5) If a person discloses information in contravention of subsection (3) which relates to a person whose identity—

(a) is specified in the disclosure, or

(b) can be deduced from it,

section 19 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (offence of wrongful disclosure) applies in relation to that disclosure as it applies in relation to a disclosure in contravention of section 20(9) of that Act.

(6) This section does not limit the circumstances in which information may be disclosed under section 18(2) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 or under any other enactment or rule of law.

(7) Nothing in this section authorises the making of a disclosure which—

(a) contravenes the data protection legislation, or

(b) is prohibited by any of Parts 1 to 7 or Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.

(8) In this section “the data protection legislation” has the same meaning as in the Data Protection Act 2018.

26 Co-operation with other customs services

(1) HMRC may co-operate with other customs services on matters of mutual concern with a view to securing (by the exchange of information or otherwise)—

(a) the administration of the import duty system,

(b) the prevention or detection of evasion or other fraud relating to import duty, and

(c) the prevention, reduction or elimination of avoidance of a liability to import duty.

(2) Section 25(3) to (7) apply in relation to information disclosed as a result of this section.

27 Fees for exercise of functions in connection with import duty

(1) The Treasury may by regulations authorise the charging of fees in respect of the exercise of any specified function of HMRC, or of an HMRC officer, for the purposes of, or otherwise in connection with, import duty.

(2) The power may be exercised by the Treasury only if they consider that—

(a) its exercise is consistent with arrangements between Her Majesty’s government in the United Kingdom and any other government or any international organisation or authority, and

(b) the circumstances in which the specified function is, or is likely to be, exercised are such that it is fair and reasonable for the charge to be made.

28 Requirement to have regard to international obligations

(1) In exercising any function under any provision made by or under this Part—

(a) the Treasury,

(b) the Secretary of State,

(c) HMRC,

(d) the TRA, and

(e) any other public body,

must have regard to international arrangements to which Her Majesty’s government in the United Kingdom is a party that are relevant to the exercise of the function.

(2) This section is not to be read as affecting the circumstances in which any obligation to have regard to such matters would otherwise have arisen.

29 Consequential amendments

(1) Schedule 7 contains amendments consequential on the provision made by this Part.

(2) The amendments made by that Schedule include amendments dealing with—

(a) reviews or appeals of decisions in relation to import duty (see sections 13A to 16 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Finance Act 1994), and

(b) penalties in relation to breaches of requirements in relation to import duty (see Part 3 of the Finance Act 2003).

30 General provision for the purposes of import duty

The Treasury may by regulations—

(a) make provision supplementing provision made in relation to import duty by or under this Part or any other enactment, or

(b) make other provision generally for the purposes of import duty.