(1)The following section shall be inserted after section 815A of the Taxes Act 1988—
(1)Subsection (2) below applies if the Arbitration Convention requires the Board to give effect to—
(a)an agreement or decision, made under the Convention by the Board (or their authorised representative) and any other competent authority, on the elimination of double taxation, or
(b)an opinion, delivered by an advisory commission set up under the Convention, on the elimination of double taxation.
(2)The Board shall give effect to the agreement, decision or opinion notwithstanding anything in any enactment; and any such adjustment as is appropriate in consequence may be made (whether by way of discharge or repayment of tax, the making of an assessment or otherwise).
(3)Any enactment which limits the time within which claims for relief under any provision of the Tax Acts may be made shall not apply to a claim made in pursuance of an agreement, decision or opinion falling within subsection (1)(a) or (b) above.
(4)In this section “the Arbitration Convention” means the Convention on the elimination of double taxation in connection with the adjustment of profits of associated enterprises, concluded on 23rd July 1990 by the parties to the treaty establishing the European Economic Community (90/436/EEC).”
(2)In section 816 of the Taxes Act 1988 (disclosure of information) the following subsection shall be inserted after subsection (2)—
“(2A)The obligation as to secrecy imposed by any enactment shall not prevent the Board, or any authorised officer of the Board, from disclosing information required to be disclosed under the Arbitration Convention in pursuance of a request made by an advisory commission set up under that Convention; and “the Arbitration Convention” here has the meaning given by section 815B(4).”
(3)The following section shall be inserted after section 182 of the M1Finance Act 1989 (disclosure of information)—
(1)A person who discloses any information acquired by him in the exercise of his functions as a member of an advisory commission set up under the Arbitration Convention is guilty of an offence.
(2)Subsection (1) above does not apply to any disclosure of information—
(a)with the consent of the person who supplied the information to the commission, or
(b)which has been lawfully made available to the public before the disclosure is made.
(3)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that at the time of the alleged offence he believed that the information in question had been lawfully made available to the public before the disclosure was made and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise.
(4)A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine or both;
(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both.
(5)No prosecution for an offence under this section shall be instituted in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland except—
(a)by the Board, or
(b)by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions or, in Northern Ireland, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
(6)In this section—
“the Arbitration Convention” has the meaning given by section 815B(4) of the Taxes Act 1988;
“the Board” means the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.”
Marginal Citations