Finance Act 2008

Part 2 Powers to inspect businesses etc

Power to inspect business premises etc

10 (1) An officer of Revenue and Customs may enter a person’s business premises and inspect—

(a) the premises,

(b) business assets that are on the premises, and

(c) business documents that are on the premises,

if the inspection is reasonably required for the purpose of checking that person’s tax position.

(2) The powers under this paragraph do not include power to enter or inspect any part of the premises that is used solely as a dwelling.

(3) In this Schedule—

• “business assets” means assets that an officer of Revenue and Customs has reason to believe are owned, leased or used in connection with the carrying on of a business by any person, excluding documents,

• “business documents” means documents (or copies of documents)—

  (a)

  that relate to the carrying on of a business by any person, and

  (b)

  that form part of any person’s statutory records, and

• “business premises”, in relation to a person, means premises (or any part of premises) that an officer of Revenue and Customs has reason to believe are (or is) used in connection with the carrying on of a business by or on behalf of the person.

Power to inspect premises used in connection with taxable supplies etc

11 (1) This paragraph applies where an officer of Revenue and Customs has reason to believe that—

(a) premises are used in connection with the supply of goods under taxable supplies and goods to be so supplied are on those premises,

(b) premises are used in connection with the acquisition of goods from other member States under taxable acquisitions and goods to be so acquired are on those premises, or

(c) premises are used as a fiscal warehouse.

(2) An officer of Revenue and Customs may enter the premises and inspect—

(a) the premises,

(b) any goods that are on the premises, and

(c) any documents on the premises that appear to the officer to relate to such goods.

(3) The powers under this paragraph do not include power to enter or inspect any part of the premises that is used solely as a dwelling.

(4) Terms used both in sub-paragraph (1) and in VATA 1994 have the same meaning in that sub-paragraph as they have in that Act.

Carrying out inspections

12 (1) An inspection under this Part of this Schedule may be carried out only—

(a) at a time agreed to by the occupier of the premises, or

(b) if sub-paragraph (2) is satisfied, at any reasonable time.

(2) This sub-paragraph is satisfied if—

(a) the occupier of the premises has been given at least 7 days' notice of the time of the inspection (whether in writing or otherwise), or

(b) the inspection is carried out by, or with the agreement of, an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs.

(3) An officer of Revenue and Customs seeking to carry out an inspection under sub-paragraph (2)(b) must provide a notice in writing as follows—

(a) if the occupier of the premises is present at the time the inspection is to begin, the notice must be provided to the occupier,

(b) if the occupier of the premises is not present but a person who appears to the officer to be in charge of the premises is present, the notice must be provided to that person, and

(c) in any other case, the notice must be left in a prominent place on the premises.

(4) The notice referred to in sub-paragraph (3) must state the possible consequences of obstructing the officer in the exercise of the power.

(5) If a notice referred to in sub-paragraph (3) is given with the approval of the First-tier Tribunal (see paragraph 13), it must state that it is given with that approval.

Approval of First-tier Tribunal

13 (1) An officer of Revenue and Customs may ask the First-tier Tribunal to approve an inspection under this Part of this Schedule.

(2) The First-tier Tribunal may not approve an inspection unless—

(a) an application for approval is made by, or with the agreement of, an authorised officer of Revenue and Customs, and

(b) the Tribunal is satisfied that, in the circumstances, the inspection is justified.

Restrictions and special cases

14 This Part of this Schedule has effect subject to Parts 4 and 6 of this Schedule.