Finance Act 2022

62 Disclosure of information U.K.

(1) An appropriate collection authority may disclose information obtained or held by them for, or in connection with, their functions under this Part to—

(a) another appropriate collection authority;

(b) a supervisory authority that is not an appropriate collection authority;

(c) the Secretary of State;

(d) the Treasury;

(e) an authorised officer of a person listed in paragraphs (a) to (d).

(2) Information disclosed by an appropriate collection authority in reliance on subsection (1) may not be further disclosed without the consent of that appropriate collection authority (which may be general or specific).

(3) A supervisory authority that is not an appropriate collection authority may disclose information obtained or held by them to an appropriate collection authority or to an authorised officer of an appropriate collection authority.

(4) Information may only be disclosed under this section for the purpose of assisting the person to whom it is disclosed to carry out functions in relation to the levy.

(5) Section 19 of CRCA 2005 (offence of wrongful disclosure) applies in relation to a disclosure of information in contravention of subsection (2) which relates to a person whose identify is specified in, or can be deduced from, the disclosure as it applies in relation to the disclosure of information in contravention of section 20(9) of that Act.

(6) No charge may be made for any disclosure made under this section.

(7) Except as provided by subsection (8), the disclosure of information under this section does not breach—

(a) any obligation of confidence owed by the person making the disclosure, or

(b) any other restriction on the disclosure of information (however imposed).

(8) The powers conferred by this section to disclose information do not operate to authorise a disclosure that would contravene the data protection legislation (but those powers are to be taken into account in determining whether the disclosure would contravene that legislation).

(9) References in this section to an authorised officer of any person are to any person who has been designated by the principal as a person to and by whom information may be disclosed under this section.

(10) For the purposes of subsection (9), any officer of Revenue and Customs is to be treated as having been designated by the HMRC Commissioners as a person to and by whom information may be disclosed under this section.

(11) Nothing in this section (other than subsection (2)) limits the circumstances in which information may be disclosed under any other enactment or rule of law.

(12) In this section “data protection legislation” has the same meaning as in the Data Protection Act 2018 (see section 3 of that Act).