Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 section 8

Power to transfer functions

Section 8 enables functions to be transferred into or out of HMRC by Order in Council, even though HMRC is a non-Ministerial department, and sets out the restrictions and safeguards that apply to such transfers.

• HMRC and its officers are treated as if they were Ministers of the Crown for the purposes of transferring functions under the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975, the Scotland Act 1998, and the Government of Wales Act 1998.
• Core HMRC functions listed in section 5(1) of the 2005 Act — such as the collection and management of taxes, duties, contributions, and the payment and management of tax credits — are protected and cannot be transferred away from HMRC.
• When functions are transferred to HMRC, the Order in Council may restrict the powers available to exercise those functions and may require that HMRC obtain the consent of a specified Minister (or, in Scotland, a member of the Scottish Executive) before exercising them.
• Functions may be transferred from HMRC to Welsh Ministers under the Government of Wales Act 1998, but the same core functions protected under section 5(1) are excluded from any such transfer.