Finance Act 2007

Section 124 amends Chapter 4 of Part 38 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 that sets out various investigation powers that are available to the Revenue Commissioners. The purpose of this amendment is to help to make a person, under investigation by the Revenue Commissioners, aware as to whether that investigation is for the purposes of establishing a tax liability or with a view to criminal proceedings. The section introduces a power that enables Revenue, when investigating with a view to initiating criminal proceedings, to apply to a judge of the District Court for a search warrant. As a consequence of the introduction of this power specifically targeted at criminal investigations, consequential amendments are being made to the existing power to apply for a search warrant under Section 905(2A).

In addition, in order to avoid the necessity to apply for a search warrant in inappropriate circumstances (e.g. when seeking information from an unconnected third party) the section introduces a power to apply to a judge of the District Court for an order requiring the person named therein to supply specified information to the Revenue Commissioners, when they are carrying out an investigation with a view to initiating criminal proceedings.