851A Confidentiality of taxpayer information.

(1) In this section,

“agent” means a member of a professional body;

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“film corporation tax credit” means that credit within the meaning assigned to it by section 481;

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“investigation authority” means a statutory body responsible for the investigation of alleged criminal offences;

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“professional body” means—

(a) an accountancy body that comes within the supervisory remit of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority,

(b) the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, or

(c) the Irish Taxation Institute;

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“professional body” means—

(a)an accountancy body that comes within the supervisory remit of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority,

(b)the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority,

(c)the Irish Taxation Institute, or

(d) the Law Society of Ireland;

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“Revenue officer” includes serving and former officers of the Revenue Commissioners;

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“service provider” means any person engaged or formerly engaged by or on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners, or any person employed by such person, for the purposes of carrying out work relating to the administration of any taxes or duties under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners by virtue of the Acts;

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“taxpayer information” means information of any kind and in any form relating to one or more persons that is—

(a) obtained by a Revenue officer for the purposes of the Acts, or

(b) prepared from information so obtained,

but does not include information that does not directly or indirectly reveal the identity of the person to whom it relates;

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“taxpayer information” means information of any kind and in any form relating to one or more persons that is—

(a) obtained by a Revenue officer or service provider for the purposes of the Acts,

(b) obtained by a Revenue officer or service provider purportedly for the purposes of the Acts, or

(c) prepared from information so obtained,

but does not include information that does not directly or indirectly reveal the identity of the person to whom it relates;

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“the Acts” means—

(a) the Tax Acts,

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(aa) the Customs Acts,

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(b) Parts 18A, 18B, 18C and 18D,

(c) the statutes relating to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties,

(d) the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

(e) the Value-Added Tax Acts,

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(f) the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003, and the enactments amending or extending that Act, and

(g) the statutes relating to stamp duty and the management of that duty,

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(f) the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,

(g) the statutes relating to stamp duty and the management of that duty, and

(h) the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012,

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and any instruments made thereunder and any instruments made under any other enactment and relating to tax.

(2) All taxpayer information held by the ^[11]>Revenue Commissioners or a Revenue officer^<[11][11]>Revenue Commissioners, a Revenue officer or a service provider^<[11] is confidential and may only be disclosed in accordance with this section or as is otherwise provided for by any other statutory provision.

(3) Except as authorised by this section, any ^[12]>Revenue officer^<[12][12]>Revenue officer, service provider^{<[12] [5]>}or any person to whom taxpayer information is disclosed^<[5] who knowingly—

(a) provides to any person any taxpayer information,

(b) allows to be provided to any person any taxpayer information,

(c) allows any person to have access to any taxpayer information, or

(d) uses any taxpayer information otherwise than in the course of administering or enforcing the Acts,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable —

(i) on summary conviction to a fine of €3,000, and

(ii) on conviction on indictment to a fine of €10,000.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), a ^[13]>Revenue officer^<[13][13]>Revenue officer or service provider^<[13] shall not be required to give or produce evidence relating to taxpayer information in connection with any legal proceedings, notwithstanding anything to the contrary.

(5) Subsection (2) does not apply to —

(a) criminal proceedings, or

(b) any legal proceedings (including proceedings before the Appeal Commissioners) relating to the administration or enforcement of the Acts.

(6) (a) Where a Revenue officer has information that leads him or her to suspect that a criminal offence may have been committed, he or she may report the matter and provide such information, as is appropriate, to an investigation authority for investigation.

(b) Information received by an investigation authority may only be used in the detection or investigation of the matter reported to it.

(7) (a) A Revenue officer may disclose ^[3]>personal information^<[3][3]>taxpayer information^<[3] to a professional body where he or she is satisfied that the work of an agent does not meet the professional standards of a professional body.

(b) Information received by a professional body may only be used for the purposes of any investigation by the professional body.

(8) A Revenue officer may disclose information in the following circumstances—

(a) where disclosure of information is authorised by the Freedom of Information Act 1997 and the information is not taxpayer information,

(b) for the purposes of any enquiry under the Tribunal of Enquiry (Evidence) Acts 1921 to 2002,

(c) where the taxpayer information disclosed relates to the person to whom disclosure is made,

(d) where the taxpayer information is disclosed with the consent of the taxpayer to any other person,

(e) where disclosure is made to a person acting in a representative capacity, taxpayer information that is relevant to the person in that capacity,

(f) in relation to a charity, such information as a Revenue Commissioner may authorise in writing and which is in the possession of a revenue officer in relation to the name of a charity, its objectives, its governing documents and its principal officers,

(g) taxpayer information may be disclosed to an official of the Department of Finance solely for the purposes of the formulation or evaluation of fiscal policy,

(h) taxpayer information which may reasonably be regarded as necessary for the purposes of determining any tax, interest, penalty or other amount that is or may become payable by another person, or any refund or tax credit to which the other person is or may become entitled, may be disclosed to that other person,

(i) information which is not taxpayer information, ^[6]>and^<[6]

(j) taxpayer information the disclosure of which is expressly authorised by another ^[7]>enactment.^{<[7][21]>[7]>}enactment, and^{<[7]<[21][21]>}enactment,^<[21]

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(k) where a person is engaged by or on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of carrying out work relating to the administration of any taxes or duties under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners by virtue of the Acts, taxpayer information may be disclosed to the person for those purposes, and that information shall not be used by that person for any other purpose.

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(k) taxpayer information may be disclosed to a service provider for the purpose for which the service provider is engaged and that information shall not be used by that service provider for any other ^[22]>purpose.^{<[22][22]>[25]>}purpose, and^{<[25]<[22][25]>}purpose,^<[25]

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(l) where it relates to a failure, by a registered farm partnership, within the meaning of section 667C, to continue to meet conditions set out in section 667C(1A) or 667D(2), as the case may be, and the information is disclosed only to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the ^[26]>Marine.^<[26][26]>Marine,^<[26]

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(m) where relief is granted under section 81D of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 and the information is disclosed only to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for the sole purpose of complying with Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1408/2013 of 18 December 201320,

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(m) where relief is granted under—

(i) section 81D of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, or

(ii) section 667C,

and the information is disclosed only to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for the sole purpose of complying with Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1408/2013 of 18 December 2013¹³,

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(n) where the taxpayer information is disclosed to an official of the Department of Finance solely—

(i) for the purposes of or in connection with the compliance by the State with its obligations under—

(I)Article 108 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, or

(II)regulations made pursuant to Article 109 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union,

or

(ii) for the purposes of or in connection with the preparation of a response to the exercise by the Commission of the European Union of its functions under—

(I)Articles 107 to 109 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, or

(II)regulations made pursuant to Article 109 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union,

and

(o) where the taxpayer information is disclosed to the Commission of the European Union solely for the purposes of or in connection with the compliance by the State with its obligations under—

(i)Article 108 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, or

(ii)regulations made pursuant to Article 109 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.

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(8A) Where a company is in receipt of relief from tax in relation to the production of a qualifying film under section 481, the Revenue Commissioners may disclose the following taxpayer information:

(a) the name of the company;

(b) the name of the film;

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(c) the total cost of the production of the film;

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(d) the amount of the tax relief given.

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(d) the amount of film corporation tax credit granted, by reference to ranges set out in page 30, paragraph 166(vi) of the Guidelines on State Aid to Promote Risk Finance¹, inserted by Communication from the Commission (2014/C 198/02)²;

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(e) whether the company is—

(i)a category of enterprise referred to Article 2.1 of Annex 1 to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014³, or

(ii)a category of enterprise which is larger than the categories of enterprise referred to in subparagraph (i);

(f)the territorial unit, within the meaning of the NUTS Level 2 classification specified in Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No. 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003⁴ amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1888/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005⁵, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 105/2007 of 1 February 2007⁶, Regulation (EC) No. 176/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008⁷, Regulation (EC) No. 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008⁸, Commission Regulation (EU) No. 31/2011 of 17 January 2011⁹, Council Regulation (EU) No. 517/2013 of 13 May 2013¹⁰, Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1319/2013 of 9 December 2013¹¹, and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 868/2014 of 8 August 2014¹², in which the company is located;

(g)the date on which film corporation tax credit is granted.

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(8B) In relation to information provided to the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht by a company for the purposes of obtaining a certificate under section 481, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, in processing such information, shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be engaged as a service provider with respect to the administration of section 481.

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(9) Nothing in this section shall prevent the due disclosure in the course of duties of taxpayer information by a ^[15]>Revenue Commissioner or Revenue officer^<[15][15]>Revenue Commissioner, Revenue officer or service provider^<[15] to another Revenue Commissioner or Revenue officer.

(10) Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1967 shall apply in relation to an offence under this section as if, in place of the penalty provided for in subsection (3) of that section, there were specified in that subsection the penalty provided for by subsection (3)(i), and the reference in subsection (2)(a) of section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1967 to the penalty provided for in subsection (3) of that section shall be construed and apply accordingly.