Information Commissioner's Office

HM Revenue and Customs

1 April 2008, Central government

The complainant requested from HM Revenue & Customs the files of a group of companies, a pension fund and a trust of which he was once a director and trustee. This information has been withheld under section 44 of the Act (prohibitions on disclosure). The public authority has said that the relevant statutory prohibition is section 18(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue & Customs Act 2005. The Commissioner has considered the complaint and is satisfied that any information that the public authority holds, which falls within the scope of the request, is covered by the statutory prohibition and that the section 44 exemption applies. However the Commissioner has found that the public authority breached section 17(1) of the Act by failing to issue a refusal notice within 20 working days and also breached section 17(1) of the Act by failing to adequately explain to the complainant why his request was being refused.

FOI 17: Upheld