IHTM09425 - Information received from an informer: contacting the informer

Normally you should avoid contacting the informer again. However, there will be some cases where it may be essential to clarify information contained in their letter or to find out more.

Before contacting the informer, you must carefully plan what you intend to say.

You should keep a record of

• any discussion you have with the informer
• any discussion you have with your manager or colleague in CPE3
• why you needed to contact the person again and why you believe they might know the answer to the question(s) you intend to ask.

If you do need to ask questions of an informer, you may only ask questions that you believe they might know the answer to, or might be able to find out be consulting personal papers already in their possession. You should make it clear from the outset that you are only seeking information

• that they already know, or
• that they can find out from papers already in their possession

and you should make it clear that you do not want them to find out more.

If the informer suggests that they will find out more information, you can say that ‘HMRC is regulated by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and this means that we must seek authorisation before allowing somebody to find things out for us. Our policy is only to seek such authorisation in the most serious of cases.’

You should try to dissuade the informer from attempting to find out anything more.