Dear Sir or Madam,

Please inform me how many ex-parte meetings were held in the last
year in order for an inspector to obtain a S20/TMA1970 notice to
obtain private bank accounts of an individual who is under enquiry.

Please also tell me how many of these S20 notices were granted and
how many were refused.

Yours faithfully,

Tony Carlisle

Dear Sir or Madam,

You are now obliged to reply to my original request.

I look forward to an early response

Yours sincerely,

Tony Carlisle

Dear Mr Carlisle

Thank you for your email.

I am sorry that a Freedom of Information request that you have submitted
remains unanswered. Unfortunately I cannot trace this request on HM
Revenue & Customs database therefore I would be grateful if you could
send this to me via email, fax or post.

I will then be able to look into the reason for the delay and ensure
that a full response is issued to you as soon as is possible.

If you have any further queries regarding this, please do not hesitate
to contact me.

Thanks for your help

Michael

Michael Armstrong
Freedom of Information Unit
Room BP5001 | Dunstanburgh House | Longbenton
Newcastle Upon Tyne | NE98 1ZZ
Tel: 0191 2253065 | Fax: 0191 2253098
email (internal): Armstrong, Michael (G&S)
email (external): [HMRC request email]

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Dear Mr Carlisle

Freedom of Information Act 2000 | Our Ref: 2036/08

Thank you for your request for information regarding Ex Parte
Commissioners hearings. I am sorry for the delay in this being
processed. We will provide you with a response as soon as we can.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will
be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Regards

Michael

Michael Armstrong
Freedom of Information Unit
Room BP5001 | Dunstanburgh House | Longbenton
Newcastle Upon Tyne | NE98 1ZZ
Tel: 0191 2253065 | Fax: 0191 2253098
email (internal): Armstrong, Michael (G&S)
email (external): [HMRC request email]

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Dear Mr Carlisle,

Thank you for your request for information about HMRC's use of Section 20 Taxes Management Act 1970 (TMA) applications. I am dealing with it under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000(FOI). You asked:-

* How many ex-parte meetings were held in the last year in order for an inspector to obtain a S20/TMA1970 notice to obtain private bank accounts of an individual who is under enquiry and

* How many of these S20 notices were granted and

* How many were refused.

Information about the use of section 20 is held in individual customer's files; it has not been analysed in the way your request suggests nor is there a data base from which the information could be extracted. In order to provide the information HMRC would have to review every tax file it holds for individuals to identify the ones in which section 20 had been used. And, once relevant cases had been identified, extract the detail you asked about. This would be a prohibitively expensive exercise in terms of staff resources.

The fees regulations relating to the Freedom of Information provide that where the costs of extracting the information would exceed the 'appropriate limit' public authorities are not obliged to comply with requests. The appropriate limit for Central Government Departments is £600 based on staff time of £25 per hour; this represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3½ working days determining if the department holds the information and extracting it. Under section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the department is not obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing it further.

Normally I would suggest you modify your request to bring it below the limit but, as any information about section 20, would necessarily involve reviewing many tens of thousands of individual files I am afraid I cannot see any scope for how you might do that.

Although HMRC does not hold the information you want we do have some very limited information about the use of section 20. I must emphasise that these figures are un-audited and arise from a survey in which colleagues were asked to report the use of section 20. The figures cover the period 1 September 2007 to 1 May 2008 and show that 434 Section 20(1) and (3) TMA 70 notices were issued. Within the total of 434, 224 notices were issued by local offices and 151 were Section 20(3) notices issued to banks. I note that your request related to its use in respect of individuals; I take that to mean 'living individuals' in relation to their own tax affairs. Section 20 may be used in relation to legal entities such as companies or trusts; the figures shown above may include such cases and are not necessarily confined to 'living individuals'.

The Appeal Commissioners come under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ); they might hold information about Section 20 and so you may like to address your request to them. Contact details for the MoJ are here http://www.justice.gov.uk/requestinginfo... .

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are not happy with this reply you may request a review by writing to HMRC FOI Team, Room 4/52, 100 Parliament Street London SWIA 2BQ. You must request a review within 2 months of the date of this letter. It would assist our review if you set out which aspects of the reply concern you and why you are dissatisfied.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by HMRC. He can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

John Sharpe
Governance & Security
HM Revenue & Customs
Room 4/52
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BG

Fax 020 7147 0666
[email address]

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