Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 section 3

Declaration of confidentiality

Section 3 requires every person appointed as a Commissioner or officer of Revenue and Customs to make a formal declaration acknowledging their duty to keep taxpayer information confidential.

• Every newly appointed Commissioner or HMRC officer must make a formal declaration acknowledging their statutory obligation of confidentiality under section 18 of the Act
• The declaration must be made as soon as reasonably practicable after appointment — recognising that it may not happen on the very first day of duty
• The Commissioners decide the form the declaration takes and the person before whom it must be made
• Where a fixed-term appointment is simply renewed, that renewal does not count as a new appointment, so no fresh declaration is required