HMRC disclosures: doing the detective work

HMRC’s ability to check that a taxpayer has paid the correct amount of tax is critical to the successful operation of our tax system. Without formal powers there exists the possibility that taxpayers will erroneously or deliberately seek to misstate the tax they owe and there would be no way of checking whether or not this was happening. To allow HMRC to ensure that the correct amounts of tax have been paid it is afforded formal legal powers to request information and documents from taxpayers. These powers are contained in FA 2008 Sch 36.

While some legislation can be difficult to read and interpret FA 2008 Sch 36 is in the author’s opinion at least a relatively ‘user-friendly’ piece of legislation. This is some relief as anecdotally HMRC’s use of their formal information powers appears to be on the rise and so understanding...