Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 section 19

Wrongful disclosure of protected taxpayer information

Section 19 establishes the criminal offence of wrongfully disclosing protected taxpayer information and sets out the available defences and penalties.

• It is a criminal offence for any person to disclose protected taxpayer information in breach of the confidentiality rules.
• A person charged can defend themselves by showing they reasonably believed the disclosure was lawful or that the information was already publicly available.
• Penalties range up to 12 months' imprisonment or a fine on summary conviction, or up to 2 years' imprisonment or an unlimited fine on indictment.
• The existence of this criminal offence does not prevent other legal remedies or actions being pursued for a breach of confidentiality.