Taxpayer privacy 'threatened by HMRC plan'

Taxpayer privacy would be jeopardised if the Revenue were to go ahead with its new plans on handling ‘deliberate wrongdoing’ by tax professionals, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has warned.

Responding to the taxman’s consultation document Working with Tax Agents: The Next Stage, IoD head Richard Baron said, ‘We certainly agree that there’s a case for greater disclosure to professional bodies where there is evidence that a tax adviser has behaved improperly.

‘However, we’re very concerned that the plans as drafted would give HMRC too much encouragement to pass the confidential tax details of a business to a professional body, which might then publish those details in the course of a disciplinary proceeding against the tax adviser.’

Mr Baron added, ‘Given that various organisations concerned with personal privacy and state intrusion might also have serious concerns, we urge HMRC to be completely open about the degree of disclosure, and to explain why it’s justified.

‘It would be very unfortunate if HMRC created the impression that while taxpayer confidentiality was honoured as a principle, information gateways are used, exposing commercially sensitive tax details to all and sundry whenever that happens to suit the Revenue's convenience.’

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) acknowledged that confidentiality is of prime importance in tax matters, but the professional body said it was ‘a bit surprised’ by the IoD’s concerns.

‘As far as we can see, they don’t stand up,’ said the CIOT’s George Crozier. ‘We don’t see anything in the Revenue’s proposals that would make the publishing of confidential details more likely.

‘More cases might go to the Taxation Discipline Board if HMRC take a proactive approach to wrongdoing, but there’s no suggestion that extra private information will be revealed.’

Categories: News , Working with Tax Agents