CH221000 - How to do a compliance check: Information Powers: Introduction

FA08/SCH36 allows officers of HMRC to issue information notices to a person whose tax position is being checked and also to third parties who have information or documents that are needed to check the tax position of another person or class of person.

There are three types of information notice

• A taxpayer notice which can be used to obtain information and documents from a person for the purpose of checking their tax position
• A third party notice which can be used to obtain information and documents from one person for the purpose of checking the tax position of another person, whose identity is known, and
• An identity unknown notice which can be used to obtain information for the purpose of checking their UK tax position from

• • a person whose identity is not known to the issuing officer, or
  • a class of persons whose individual identities are not known to the officer.

Failure to comply with an information notice can lead to the recipient having to pay penalties.

Safeguards have been built into the legislation and our procedures to ensure that the information requested in an information notice is reasonably required by the issuing officer for the purpose of checking a person’s tax position, for example, some information notices can only be issued with

• the agreement of an authorised officer
• the agreement of the person whose tax position you are checking
• the approval of the tribunal.

Or a combination of the above.

There are rights of appeal against information notices but not against a requirement to produce statutory records or a notice that has been approved in advance by the tribunal.

Factsheet CC/FS2 Compliance checks - requests for information and documents should be issued with an information notice.