Section 93: HGV Road User Levy: Disclosure of Information by HMRC
Summary
1.This section provides for an information sharing gateway to enable HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to share information for the purposes of the Secretary of States’ functions under the HGV Road User Levy Act 2013 (HGVA).
Details of the Section
2.Subsection 1 inserts a new section 14A into the HGVA .
3.New subsection 14A(1) provides that HMRC information can be disclosed for the purposes of the HGVA.
4.New subsection 14A(2) provides that information disclosed under the gateway provided for in subsection (1) cannot be further disclosed without the consent of the Commissioners unless the disclosure is to someone to whom the information could have been disclosed under the new gateway.
5.New subsection 14A(3) provides that the criminal offence in section 19 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA) will apply where identifying information has been disclosed in contravention of subsection (2).
6.Subsection 2 removes a previous gateway for disclosure by HMRC for the purposes of the HGVA which was contained in secondary legislation.
Background Note
7.The Department for Transport (DfT) and its agency the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) require information that HMRC holds about heavy goods vehicles. This information is needed to implement a levy on UK and foreign hauliers, although UK hauliers will have their levy offset by a reduction in Vehicle Excise Duty. The information needed is held on the Freight Targeting System (FTS).
8.HMRC agreed to provide the information to DfT and VOSA by creating a legal gateway in a statutory instrument utilising powers contained in the HGVA. Those powers did not however enable the creation of a criminal offence for wrongful disclosure of identifying information so this was not provided for. Therefore, this section has been included in Finance Act 2014 amending the HGVA. This section ensures that taxpayer confidentiality continues to be safeguarded with the addition of a criminal sanction, as detailed in section 19 CRCA.
