Commentary on Clauses Section 7 and Schedule 1: Former Inland Revenue matters
52.Subsection (1): This applies to former Inland Revenue matters, and those matters are listed in Schedule 1. The list is supplemented by a list of obsolescent functions at section 54(4).
53.Subsection (2): The functions of Inland Revenue staff are transferred to officers of Revenue and Customs. But they are only transferred to the extent that they relate to former Inland Revenue matters. An officer of Revenue and Customs can use all of the current Inland Revenue powers, but only in relation to former Inland Revenue matters. This is the first half of the ring-fence.
54.Subsection (3): This lists the various descriptions of Inland Revenue staff, whose functions are being transferred.
55.Subsection (4): This disapplies the transfer of Customs and Excise officers’ powers to the extent that an officer of Revenue and Customs is exercising a former Inland Revenue function. So an officer of Revenue and Customs may not use Customs and Excise powers in relation to former Inland Revenue matters. This is the second half of the ring-fence.
56.Subsection (5): This makes the transfer of Inland Revenue functions to HMRC subject to the transfer of criminal prosecutions to the Director of the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office.