The taxman can now read your diary & much else

[righty]

Taxman can now read your diary - Walletpop UK

[Amethyst]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

Finance Act 2007 (sections 82 to 86 (Opens new window) and Schedule 23 (Opens new window)) included provisions dealing with search warrants, production orders and powers of arrest. These apply the rules in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) to all HMRC criminal investigations. Previously they applied only when investigating criminal offences involving former HM Customs and Excise functions. Some tax specific powers such as the power of arrest in section 72(9) of VATA 1994 have been replaced with the general powers in PACE. PACE does not apply in Scotland but this Finance Act introduced a similar set of powers that can be used in criminal investigations conducted there. These changes were announced on 21 March 2007 in Budget Note 78.



What criminal investigation powers does HMRC have?
Criminals, including organised criminals, seek to attack the UK’s tax and duty systems to steal taxpayer’s money. To counter this HMRC needs similar criminal investigation powers to those that are available to other law enforcement agencies. In particular it needs powers to:
• apply for orders requiring information to be produced - production orders
• apply for search warrants
• make arrests
• search suspects and premises following arrest.
PACE
In England and Wales these powers are made available through the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). In Northern Ireland they are made available through the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.
The Finance Act 2007 amends PACE and the PACE (NI) Order so that they can be used for all HMRC criminal investigations. The only exception is when HMRC is acting as an agent for another government department.
The advantage of using PACE is that it provides a set of powers that are designed for use by law enforcement agencies. It means that tax crime is tackled in the same way as other crime.
Not all the powers in PACE are made available to HMRC. For example, HMRC does not take fingerprints, charge or bail suspects. This has to be done by the police.
Some of the powers in PACE are modified for HMRC. For example, a search warrant may allow HMRC to search persons found on the premises without the need for arrest. This allows HMRC to search a bookkeeper who may have evidence in a briefcase or laptop when a company’s premises are searched, but who is not considered a suspect.
Scotland
PACE does not apply in Scotland. Finance Act 2007 introduced a special set of powers that apply in Scotland within the Criminal Law (Consolidation)(Scotland) Act 1995 and the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. These powers cover the same areas as PACE.

[righty]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

Whatever it is it'll be abused as usual

[Zazen.Warrior]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

This doesn't cause me any qualms because I am poor, but I expect a few of the Tory faithful are quaking in their boots.

[pompeyfaith]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

ditto and my cra files will back that up

[WendyB]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

This doesn't cause me any qualms because I am poor, but I expect a few of the Tory faithful are quaking in their boots.

Me too, not only am I poor, I don't keep a diary either, so I'm not worried in the slightest

[Guest]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

Any extension of powers by the state should worry everybody, regardless of wealth or status.

[pompeyfaith]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

As always this does back up the fact we all need to be careful about what we post on social sites

[Amy]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

This doesn't cause me any qualms because I am poor, but I expect a few of the Tory faithful are quaking in their boots.

Why, because it is not possible to be poor and a Tory?

[Amethyst]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

pmsl - I'm a poor Tory

[leclerc]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

pmsl - I'm a poor Tory

I always assumed you were liberal

[WendyB]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

pmsl - I'm a poor Tory

Me too

[righty]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

I'm a sort of libertarian in that I do believe the state does have a small part to play in peoples lives but shouldn't be all encompassing like today. The executive need to trust the rest of us & stop treating us all as criminals in the making

[Amethyst]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

Completely agree with Righty.

Nats, I've been waivering for a number of years but when it comes to X in the box time I just can't bring myself to vote LibDem.

I am pretty happy with ConDem though (well so far anyway)

Lets not forget this tax inspector powers ditty came in under Labour, not Tory's.

[Sapphire]

Re: The taxman can now read your diary & much else

Well I'm not bothered at all, my other half's ex wife was a Tax Inspector and judging by her they are all complete *£$&^@ anyway.