The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (c 11) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

which combined the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

and

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

into a single

government department Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло� ...

HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...

. The Act also established the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, and provided for inspections of HMRC by

HM Inspectors of Constabulary His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the police forces of England and Wales, and since ...

to ensure that it complies with the law. In combining the two revenue departments into one, the Act implemented the recommendation of the O'Donnell Review. The Act provides for the new department to inherit the powers of the old departments, pending a comprehensive review of revenue powers. Following some controversy in the Parliamentary debates, the Act also expressly provides for a duty to keep information

confidential Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise usually executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access or places restrictions on certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, lawyers are often required ...

, with criminal penalties for wrongful disclosure. The separation of prosecution functions to an independent body followed recommendations in the Gower Hammond Report and the Butterfield Report into failed prosecutions. The

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

that became the Act was introduced to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

on 24 November 2004, completed its stages in the House of Commons on 16 January 2005, completed its stages in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

on 5 April 2005. Lords' Amendments were considered by the House of Commons on 6 April 2005 and the Act received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on 7 April 2005. The merger of the revenue bodies, and creation of RCPO, took effect 11 days later.

Section 53 - Commencement

The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (Commencement) Order 2005
(S.I. 2005/1126 (C. 51)) was made under section 53(1).

References

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Mea ...

External links

The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005
as amended from the National Archives.
The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005
as originally enacted from the National Archives.
Explanatory notes
to the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
Progress of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Bill
{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2005 HM Revenue and Customs

Section 53 - Commencement

See also

References

External links