IDG40563 - Sharing Information outside of HMRC: sharing information with courts, tribunals and HMRC appeals: disclosure based on non-Binding Orders: HMRC tribunals
Customers may have a right to appeal against the department’s decisions at a Tribunal.
At a tribunal the department must disclose certain information it holds relating to a case. This information may be about the person who is disputing the case, or it may be about a third party such as a spouse or partner.
Section 18 (2) (c) Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 provides an exception to the duty of confidentiality where;
- Disclosure is for the purpose of a civil proceeding (whether or not within the United Kingdom) and;
- The civil proceeding relates to HMRC functions.
Examples of where this may apply is where HMRC is defending an appeal against a tax or duty assessment/determination. In this case assessing the right amount of tax or duty due to be paid is part of HMRC’s management and collection functions, and providing the disclosure is needed for the purpose of the proceeding (tribunal hearing) then disclosure is likely to fall within scope of the exception outlined in s.18 (2) c of the CRCA 2005.
In accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR and the Human Rights Act 1998 any disclosure should be relevant, adequate but no more than the minimum neccessary and proportionate to the specified purpose the disclosure is intended to achieve. In basic terms, we should therefore only disclose the minimum information required to undertake our functions.
For more guidance on tribunals work, please refer to the Appeals, Reviews, Tribunals Guide (ARTG).