Part 1Auditors, accounts, directors' liabilities and investigations
Chapter 2Accounts and reports
Supervision of accounts and reports
F115A.Disclosure of information by tax authorities
(1)
The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs may disclose information to a prescribed body for the purposes of its functions.
(2)
(3)
Information disclosed to a prescribed body under this section—
(a)
may only be used for the purposes of its functions, and
(b)
must not be further disclosed except to the person to whom the information relates.
(4)
A person who contravenes subsection (3) commits an offence unless—
(a)
the person did not know, and had no reason to suspect, that the information had been disclosed under this section, or
(b)
the person took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.
(5)
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) is liable—
(a)
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine (or both);
(b)
on summary conviction—
(i)
in England and Wales or Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both);
(ii)
in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both).
(6)
In subsection (5)(b)(i) as it applies in relation to England and Wales F4the reference to twelve months is to be read as a reference to the general limit in a magistrates’ court (or to six months in the case of an offence committed before 2 May 2022).
(7)
Sections 400, 401 and 403 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (supplementary provisions relating to offences) apply in relation to an offence under this section.
F5(8)
In this section—
“the data protection legislation” has the same meaning as in the Data Protection Act 2018 (see section 3 of that Act);
“personal data” has the same meaning as in Parts 5 to 7 of that Act (see section 3(2) and (14) of that Act).