Privilege and third party information notices

HMRC applied for an information notice (FA 2008 Sch 36 para 2) to be issued to a third party - a law firm that represented the taxpayer in respect of conveyancing transactions. In its representations against the notice the law firm argued that all the requested documents and information were protected by legal professional privilege.

In an anonymised and redacted decision the First-tier Tribunal found that HMRC was justified in giving the notice. The taxpayer had not provided the information sought by the tax authority so it was reasonable and proportionate for HMRC to seek information from third parties.

On privilege and third party notices the tribunal said: ‘Communications between a solicitor and [their] client will generally only benefit from advice privilege if they are both made for the purposes of seeking legal advice from the solicitor or for the purposes of giving legal advice to the...