Confidentiality

[wonderer]

Shouldn't a Parliamentary Question be put down as to whether HMRC can confirm that no-one in their department breached the obligation to secrecy in relation to Zahawi's tax affairs.

If the confirmation cannot be given, there should be a further PQ as to what action, if any, the Department
has been taken to anyone who committed a breach.

[pawncob]

A three month enquiry, (short in HMRC terms) would result in a denial of culpability. I'm not going to stand for local council, just in case!

[bd6759]

There should not need to be a PQ. Leaking information is a criminal act (s19 CRCA 2005) and it should be investigated.

The most curious thing here is the 30% penalty. That is the maximum penalty for a careless error, without giving any reduction for the quality of disclosure. On the presumption that Zahawi has professional advisers to deal with these matters it is inconceivable that the would receive the maximum penalty, or anywhere near it. And, being a careless error there is every possibility that it would be suspended. If he did receive a penalty of around that amount, is it not more likely to be a 35% penalty for a deliberate error, giving the maximum reduction for disclosure?

[wamstax]

Or a careless penalty for an offshore matter for a category 3 country as a result of a prompted disclosure in the range 30% - 60%. There are too many experts without an open mind and always looking for more sinister underhand things being concealed.

[wamstax]

Or it could be prompted Category 2 territory FTN notified more than 12 months after the tax became unpaid in the range 30-45%