CH221000 - How to do a compliance check: information powers: introduction
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-05)


This page and chapter are under review as the relevant content is also published in the technical guidance chapters of the Compliance Handbook (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/compliance-handbook), within Compliance checks factsheets (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hm-revenue-and-customs-compliance-checks-factsheets) and in Compliance checks guidance (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmrc-compliance-checks-help-and-support). If you use particular pages regularly, please email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) to let us know the specific content you find useful.

There are two legislative provisions that enable HMRC to formally request information and/or documents:

Sch36, FA08 gives officers of HMRC the power to issue
- a taxpayer notice which can be used to obtain information and documents from a person for the purpose of checking their tax position or to collect a tax debt
- a third party notice which can be used to obtain information and documents from one person for the purpose of:
- checking the tax position
- collecting a tax debt
of another person, whose identity is known
- a financial institution notice, which can be used to obtain information and documents from a financial institution for the purpose of:
- checking the tax position
- collecting a tax debt
- an identity unknown notice which can be used to obtain information for the purpose of checking their UK tax position from
- a person whose identity is not known to the issuing officer, or
- a class of persons whose individual identities are not known to the officer
- an identification notice which can be used to obtain information for the purpose of checking the tax position for a person or class of person
- whose identity is not known to the officer, but
- where the authorised officer holds information that enables the person’s identity to be ascertained.
Section 118BA, CEMA79 gives officers the power to issue
- an excise information notice which can be used to obtain information from a person in order to check duties of excise.
Failure to comply with any type of information notice can lead to the recipient having to pay penalties.

Safeguards

Safeguards have been built into the legislation and our procedures to ensure that the information requested in an information notice is reasonably required by the issuing officer for
- the purpose of checking a person’s tax position or collecting a tax debt
- the purpose of protecting, securing, collecting or managing revenues derived from duties of excise
For example, some information notices can only be issued
- with the agreement of an authorised officer
- with the agreement of the person whose tax position you are checking
- with the approval of the tribunal
- by an authorised officer
or a combination of the above.

There are certain rights of appeal against information notices but not against a requirement to produce statutory records when checking a person’s tax position under Sch36, FA08 or a notice that has been approved in advance by the tribunal.

Requirements when issuing a notice

You must not include anything in an information notice which could be used to identify an informant.

You must issue factsheet CC/FS2 (GOV.UK) (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compliance-checks-checking-a-customers-tax-position-ccfs2) 'Information notices' with an information notice.