Finance Act 2010

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Revenue powers.

153.— The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 906A(1)—

(i) by substituting “sections 907, 907A and 908” for “sections 907 and 908”, and

(ii) in the definition of “authorised officer” by substituting “section 907, 907A or 908” for “section 907 or 908”,

and

(b) by inserting the following after section 907:

“Application to Appeal Commissioners: information from third party.

907A.— (1) In this section—

‘taxpayer’ means a person whose identity is not known to the authorised officer, and a group or class of persons whose individual identities are not so known;

‘third party’ means a person whose identity has been furnished to an authorised officer by a financial institution in compliance with a notice issued under section 907 or an order made under section 908.

(2) An authorised officer may, subject to this section, make application to the Appeal Commissioners for consent, to serve a notice on a third party, requiring the third party—

(a) to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents as are in the third party’s power, possession or procurement as contain, or may (in the authorised officer’s reasonable opinion) contain information relevant to a liability in relation to a taxpayer, or

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require as being relevant to any such liability,

as may be specified in the application.

(3) An authorised officer shall not make application under subsection (2) without the consent in writing of a Revenue Commissioner, and without being satisfied—

(a) that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the taxpayer, or as the case may be, all or any of the taxpayers, may have failed or may fail to comply with any provision of the Acts,

(b) that any such failure is likely to have led or to lead to serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax, and

(c) that the information—

(i) which is likely to be contained in the books, records or other documents, or

(ii) which is likely to arise from the information, explanations and particulars,

to which the application relates, is relevant to the proper assessment or collection of tax.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the authorised officer may make application to the Appeal Commissioners, for consent to serve a notice on a third party, in relation to books, records or other documents and information, explanations and particulars relating to a person who is connected with the taxpayer.

(5) Where the Appeal Commissioners determine that in all the circumstances there are reasonable grounds for making the application, they may give their consent to the authorised officer serving a notice on the third party, requiring the third party—

(a) to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents, and

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars,

as may, with the Appeal Commissioners’ consent, be specified in the notice.

(6) The persons who may be treated as a taxpayer for the purposes of this section include a company which has been dissolved and an individual who has died.

(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring any person to disclose to an authorised officer—

(a) information with respect to which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings,

(b) information of a confidential medical nature, or

(c) professional advice of a confidential nature given to a client (other than advice given as part of a dishonest, fraudulent or criminal purpose).

(8) Where the Appeal Commissioners have given their consent in accordance with this section, the authorised officer shall, as soon as practicable, but not later than 14 days from the time that such consent was made, serve a notice on the third party concerned and stating that—

(a) such consent has been given, and

(b) the third party should, within a period of 30 days, comply with the requirements as specified in the notice.

(9) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) an application by an authorised officer under subsection (2) shall with any necessary modifications be heard by the Appeal Commissioners as if it were an appeal against an assessment to income tax.

(b) Notwithstanding section 933(4), a determination by the Appeal Commissioners under this section shall be final and conclusive.

(10) A third party which fails to comply with a notice served on the third party by an authorised officer in accordance with this section shall be liable to a penalty of €19,045 and, if the failure continues after the expiry of the period specified in subsection (8)(b), a further penalty of €2,535 for each day on which the failure so continues.”.