(1)A person who discloses any information which he holds or has held in the exercise of tax functions is guilty of an offence if it is information aboutany matter relevant, for the purposes of those functions, to tax or duty inthe case of any identifiable person.
(2)In this section “tax functions” means functions relatingto tax or duty—
(a)of the Commissioners, the Board and their officers,
(b)of any person carrying out the administrative work of any tribunalmentioned in subsection (3) belowm, and
(c)of any other person providing, or employed in the provision of, servicesto any person mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) above.
(3)The tribunals referred to in subsection (2)(b) above are—
(a)the General Commissioners and the Special Commissioners,
(b)any value added tax tribunal,
(c)any referee or board of referees appointed [F1for the purposes of section80(3) of the M1 Taxes Management Act 1970 or] under section26(7) of the M2 Capital Allowances Act 1968, and
(d)any tribunal established under section 463 of the Taxes Act 1970 orsection 706 of the Taxes Act 1988.
(4)A person who discloses any information which—
(a)he holds or has held in the exercise of functions—
(i)of the Comptroller Auditor General and any member of the staff of theNational Audit Office, or
(ii)of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and his officers,
(b)is, or is derived from, information which was held by any person in theexercise of tax functions, and
(c)is information about any matter relevant, for the purposes of taxfunctions, to tax or duty in the case of any identifiable person,
is guilty of an offence.
(5)Subsections (1) and (4) above do not apply to any disclosure ofinformation—
(a)with lawful authority,
(b)with the consent of any person in whose case the information is about amatter relevant to tax or duty, or
(c)which has been lawfully made available to the public before the disclosureis made.
(6)For the purposes of this section a disclosure of any information is madewith lawful authority if, and only if, it is made—
(a)by a Crown servant in accordance with his official duty,
(b)by any other person for the purposes of the function in the exercise ofwhich he holds the information and without contravening any restriction dulyimposed by the person responsible,
(c)to, or in accordance with an authorisation duly given by, the personresponsible,
(d)in pursuance of any enactment or of any order of a court, or
(e)in connection with the institution of or otherwise for the purposes of anyproceedings relating to any matter within the general responsibility of theCommissioners or, as the case requires, the Board,
and in this subsection “the person responsible” meansthe Commissioners, the Board, the Comptroller or the ParliamentaryCommissioner, as the case requires.
(7)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this sectionto prove that at the time of the alleged offence—
(a)he believed that he had lawful authority to make the disclosure inquestion and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise, or
(b)he believed that the information in question had been lawfully madeavailable to the public before the disclosure was made and had no reasonablecause to believe otherwise.
(8)A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twoyears or a fine or both, and
(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six monthsor a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both.
(9)No prosecution for an offence under this section shall be instituted inEngland and Wales or in Northern Ireland except—
(a)by the Commissioners or the Board, as the case requires, or
(b)by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions or, inNorthern Ireland, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
(10)In this section—
“the Board” means the Commissioners of Inland Revenue,
“the Commissioners” means the Commissioners of Customsand Excise,
“Crown servant” has the same meaning as in the M3 Official Secrets Act 1989, and
“tax or duty” means any tax or duty within the general responsibility of the Commissioners or the Board.
(11)In this section—
(a)references to the Comptroller and Auditor General include the Comptrollerand Auditor General for Northern Ireland,
(b)references to the National Audit Office include the Northern Ireland Audit Office, and
(c)references to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration includethe Health Service Commissioner for England, the Health Service Commissioner for Wales, the Health Service Commissioner for Scotland, the [F2Assembly Ombudsman for Northern Ireland] and the Northern IrelandCommissioner for Complaints.
(12)This section shall come into force on the repeal of section 2 of the M4 Official Secrets Act 1911.
Textual Amendments
F1Words in s. 182(3)(c) repealed (1.5.1995 with effect as mentioned in Sch. 29 Pt. VIII(16), note 5) by 1995 c. 4, s. 162, Sch. 29 Pt. VIII(16)
F2Words in s. 182(11)(c) substituted (16.7.1996) by S.I. 1996/1298 (N.I. 8), art. 21(1), Sch. 5
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 182 restricted (6.4.1997) by 1995 c. 26, s. 109(5) (with 121(5)); S.I. 1997/664, art. 2(3), Sch. Pt. II
S. 182 restricted (6.4.1997) by S.I. 1995/3213 (N.I. 22), art. 107(2) (with art. 118(5)(6)); S.R. 1997/192, art. 2(b)
Marginal Citations
M31989c. 6.