Revenue Note for Guidance
This section provides for anonymity for Revenue officers involved in any body (namely, the Criminal Assets Bureau) established to identify the assets of persons which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal activity and to deprive or deny such persons of the assets or the benefit of such assets. In particular, the section secures that, when excising his/her powers and duties on behalf of such a body, a Revenue official is not required to identity himself or herself and is to exercise or perform written duties in the name of the body and not in his/her own name.
(1) An “authorised officer” is an officer of the Revenue Commissioners nominated by them to be a member of the staff of the body.
The meaning of “the body” is linked back to the definition of that term in section 58 (that is, it is a body established by or under statute or by the Government, the purpose or one of the principal purposes of which is the identification of the assets of persons which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal activity, the taking of appropriate action under the law to deprive or to deny those persons of the assets or the benefit of such assets, in whole or in part, as may be appropriate, and the pursuit of any investigation or the doing of any other preparatory work in relation to any proceedings arising from the those purposes). The Criminal Assets Bureau has been established for these purposes under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act, 1996.
The term “proceedings” includes any hearing before the Appeal Commissioners.
The term “the Revenue Acts” covers the legislation governing customs and excise duties, income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, value-added tax, capital acquisitions tax, stamp duty, residential property tax, vehicle registration tax and local property tax.
(2) Notwithstanding any requirements made by or under any enactment or any other requirement in administrative and operational procedures, including internal procedures, all reasonable care is to be taken to ensure that the identity of an authorised officer is not to be revealed.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of the above, the section provides for the following specific anonymity rules for authorised officers acting in pursuance of the functions of the Criminal Assets Bureau —
Relevant Date: Finance Act 2019