Commentary on Provisions Part 5 – Enforcement of the levy and penalties Chapter 1 – Investigatory Powers Section 44 – Electronic records
83.This section deals with the application of the enforcement powers in relation to information and documents which are held electronically. It applies to any provision of this Chapter or Chapter 3 (penalties) of Part 5 which (i) relates to the requirement to provide information or produce documents, or permits the inspection, copying or removal of documents, or (ii) makes provision about penalties in connection with those matters (subsection (1)). Subsection (2) provides that in any such provisions, references to information are to be read as information held in any form, and references to documents are to be read as anything in which information of any description may be recorded; similarly, references to copies of documents are to be read as anything onto which information recorded in the document has been copied by whatever means.
84.Subsection (3) allows an authorised officer at a reasonable time to obtain access to, inspect, and check the operation of any electronic device or other equipment used in connection with “relevant information” or a “relevant document” (defined in subsection (4) to mean information that someone is required to provide or a document that someone is required to produce, or which may be inspected, copied or removed by an authorised officer). Subsection (5) allows the authorised officer to require the person in charge of the electronic device to provide assistance to allow the officer to gain access to, inspect or check the operation of the device.