Finance (No. 2) Act 2023

349 International arrangements for exchanging information

(1) The Treasury may make regulations for, or in connection with, giving effect to international tax compliance arrangements to any extent, subject to such exceptions or modifications as the Treasury consider appropriate.

(2) For the purposes of this section, “international tax compliance arrangements” means any provision of—

(a) arrangements specified in an Order in Council made under section 173 of FA 2006 (international tax enforcement arrangements);

(b) the agreement reached between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the United States of America to improve international tax compliance and to implement the provisions commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in the enactment of the United States of America called the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, signed on 12 September 2012;

(c) the guidance on country-by-country reporting contained in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) Guidance on Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting, published in 2014;

(d) the OECD Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters, published in 2014;

(e) the OECD Model Mandatory Disclosure Rules for CRS Avoidance Arrangements and Opaque Offshore Structures, published in 2018;

(f) the OECD Model Rules for Reporting by Platform Operators with respect to Sellers in the Sharing and Gig Economy, published on 3 July 2020;

(g) any other arrangements or agreements made in relation to any territory or territories outside the United Kingdom, or documents related to those arrangements or agreements, which make provision corresponding or similar to that made by any arrangements, agreement or document mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) to (f).

(3) A reference in subsection (2) to arrangements, an agreement or another document includes a reference to the arrangements, agreement or other document as modified, supplemented or replaced from time to time.

(4) Regulations under subsection (1) may, in particular—

(a) require persons to disclose information of a specified description, including information about arrangements that they participated in before (as well as after) the coming into force of this section;

(b) require the information to be disclosed—

(i) to HMRC, specified persons or persons of a specified description,

(ii) at specified times,

(iii) in relation to specified periods of time, and

(iv) in a specified form and manner;

(c) impose other obligations on persons in connection with requirements to disclose information, including obligations to provide information to, and obtain information from, other specified persons;

(d) provide for the imposition of penalties in respect of a contravention of, or non-compliance with, a requirement of the regulations, including provision about appeals in relation to the imposition of a penalty;

(e) provide that a reference in the regulations to any international tax compliance arrangements is to be read as a reference to those arrangements as modified, supplemented or replaced from time to time;

(and for the purposes of this subsection “specified” means specified by or under the regulations).

(5) The regulations may—

(a) make different provision for different purposes;

(b) make provision by reference to things specified in a notice published by the Commissioners (as revised or replaced from time to time) in accordance with the regulations;

(c) allow any requirement, obligation or other provision that may be imposed or made by reference to subsection (4)(a) to (c) to be made by specific or general direction given by the Commissioners;

(d) make provision under which the Commissioners or other persons may exercise discretions;

(e) make consequential, supplementary, incidental, transitional or saving provision (including provision amending, repealing or revoking an enactment whenever passed or made).

(6) For the purposes of subsections (4) and (5)—

• “arrangements” means any scheme, transaction or series of transactions;

• “the Commissioners” means the Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs;

• “HMRC” means His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs;

• “participate”, in relation to arrangements, includes being involved in, or facilitating, the arrangements in any way (for example, by receiving any benefit from them or by designing, marketing or providing services in connection with them, or arranging for others to do so).

(7) The Treasury may by regulations amend the list of international tax compliance arrangements in subsection (2) by—

(a) adding an entry for any arrangements, agreement or document, by or under which provision is made about the exchange of information;

(b) altering or removing an entry.

(8) Regulations under this section are to be made by statutory instrument.

(9) A statutory instrument containing (whether alone or with other provision) regulations made under subsection (7) may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, the House of Commons.

(10) A statutory instrument containing any other regulations under this section is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.

(11) The following provisions are repealed—

(a) section 222 of FA 2013;

(b) section 122 of FA 2015;

(c) section 84 of FA 2019;

(d) section 129 of FA 2021.

(12) Regulations made under any provision listed in subsection (11) are to be treated as if they were made under this section (so far as that would not otherwise be the case).