Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 section 21

Disclosure to prosecuting authority

Section 21 sets out the rules under which HMRC may share confidential taxpayer information with prosecuting authorities across the United Kingdom, and the penalties that apply if that information is then disclosed unlawfully by the recipient.

• HMRC may lawfully share information with the Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales), the Lord Advocate or a procurator fiscal (Scotland), or the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, but only for specific prosecution-related purposes such as deciding whether to bring criminal charges, advising on a criminal investigation, or exercising functions under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
• Once a prosecuting authority receives HMRC information, it must not pass it on further unless the onward disclosure is connected with the authority's own functions or HMRC has given consent.
• Unauthorised onward disclosure is a criminal offence, though it is a defence to show a reasonable belief that the disclosure was lawful or that the information was already legitimately in the public domain.
• Penalties on conviction range up to two years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine on indictment, or up to 12 months' imprisonment and a fine up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction in England and Wales (reduced to six months in Scotland and Northern Ireland).