All disclosures of HMRC information must be lawful in accordance
with the provisions of the CRCA, see
IDG40500.
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 provides additional
safeguards on confidentiality, as well as allowing transgender
customers to legally acquire their chosen gender. You must be aware
of these additional safeguards on confidentiality when dealing with
trans-gender customers, or handling information about them.
The Act allows a trans-gender person to apply for a
‘gender recognition certificate’. The issuing of this
certificate gives a person the legal rights and responsibilities of
their acquired gender. HMRC is advised of this to enable the
department to carry out its functions, such as NICs administration.
The Act provides that you must not disclose any
‘protected information’ regarding trans- gender
customers to a third party unless the disclosure falls within a
limited number of special exemptions. If you are considering a
disclosure of ‘protected information’ you must seek
guidance first. ‘Protected information’ means
information a person has supplied to a Gender Recognition Panel in
connection with an application for a gender recognition certificate
or any other information which concerns a person’s gender
before their gender was changed.
Details of how to deal with trans-gender customers, and
information about them, is given in the Customer Advisor Guide (see
IDG90150).
If you receive a request for information concerning a
trans-gender person, and are unsure as to how to proceed, seek
further advice from the specialist team as outlined at
IDG90100, or contact KAI Information
Resources (also see
IDG90100).
