Plans to improve HMRC’s civil information powers

HMRC is consulting on changes to its civil information powers in FA 2008  Sch 36. These were enacted ten years ago but the department wishes to review them to ensure they work properly and are keeping up with the pace of digitalisation. This is a concern because:

• the decline in the use of cash has resulted in more electronic payments;
• securities trading has become almost entirely electronic;
• use of paper bank statements is starting to decline;
• many new start-up banks have no bricks-and-mortar branches; and
• new international agreements enable the exchange of bank data between countries.

To speed up the issue of a third-party notice HMRC proposes aligning the process with that for taxpayer notices. This would remove the requirement to seek tribunal or taxpayer approval before a third-party notice...