Finance Act 1993

187 Returns and information.U.K.

(1)In Schedule 2 to the principal Act (management and collection of petroleum revenue tax), other than the Table in paragraph 1 (modifications of the M1Taxes Management Act 1970),—

(a)for the words “an oil field”, in each place where they occur, there shall be substituted “ a taxable field ”; and

(b)for the words “the oil field”, in each place where they occur, there shall be substituted “ the taxable field ”;

andparagraph 7 (which is superseded by the following provisions of this section) shall be omitted.

(2)The Board may by notice in writing require a person—

(a)to deliver to a named officer of the Board such documents as are in the person’s possession or power and as (in the Board’s reasonable opinion) contain, or may contain, information relevant to—

(i)any tax liability to which that person is or may be subject, or

(ii)the amount of any such liability; or

(b)to furnish to a named officer of the Board such particulars as the Board may reasonably require as being relevant to, or to the amount of, any such liability.

(3)The Board may, for the purpose of enquiring into the tax liability of any person (“the taxpayer”), by notice in writing require any other person to deliver to or, if the person to whom the notice is given so elects, to make available for inspection by, a named officer of the Board, such documents—

(a)as are in his possession or power; and

(b)as (in the Board’s reasonable opinion) contain, or may contain, information relevant to—

(i)any tax liability to which the taxpayer is or may be or may have been subject; or

(ii)the amount of any such liability.

(4)Subject to subsection (5) below, a notice under subsection (3) above shall name the taxpayer with whose liability the Board is concerned; and (for the avoidance of doubt) a company which has ceased to exist may be so named.

(5)If, on an application made by the Board, a Special Commissioner gives his consent, the Board may give such a notice as is mentioned in subsection (3) above but without naming the taxpayer to whom the notice relates; but such a consent shall not be given unless the Special Commissioner is satisfied—

(a)that the notice relates to a taxpayer whose identity is not known to the Board or to a class of taxpayers whose individual identities are not so known;

(b)that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the taxpayer or any of the class of taxpayers to whom the notice relates may have failed or may fail to comply with any provision of the Oil Taxation Acts;

(c)that any such failure is likely to have led or to lead to serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax; and

(d)that the information which is likely to be contained in any documents to which the notice relates is not readily available from another source.

(6)A person to whom a notice is given under subsection (5) above may, by notice in writing given to the Board within thirty days after the date of the notice under that subsection, object to that notice on the ground that it would be onerous for him to comply with it; and, if the matter is not resolved by agreement, it shall be referred to the Special Commissioners who may confirm, vary or cancel that notice.

(7)Subsections (2) to (6) above (which, in relation to petroleum revenue tax, contain provisions similar to those of section 20 of the M2Taxes Management Act 1970) shall have effect subject to Part I of Schedule 21 to this Act (which contains provisions similar to those of section 20B of that Act); and the provisions of Part II of that Schedule relating to the meaning of “documents” (which are derived from provisions of sections 20 and 20D of that Act) shall have effect.

(8)Section 98 of the Taxes Management Act 1970 (penalties, etc. in relation to special returns) shall have effect as if, in the first column of the Table in that section, there were included a reference to subsections (2) to (6) above.