Now the taxman can bug your home and phone calls to catch payment dodgers

Now the taxman can bug your home and phone calls to catch payment dodgers
By JASON LEWIS - More by this author »

Last updated at 22:53pm on 23rd February 2008

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New powers: Tax inspectors can bug suspects
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Email newsletter Tax inspectors have been given wideranging new powers to bug people's homes and private phone calls.

They also have the go-ahead to intercept emails and plant listening devices in suspects' cars and offices.

The move is the latest expansion of surveillance powers which, until recently, were only available to the police and intelligence services.

Revenue officers used to work to a set of strict rules that even banned them from looking in cupboards at a home or business during a visit without express permission.

But now officials investigating allegations of tax evasion can pry into every aspect of a suspect's life in the hunt for evidence.

Senior revenue officials have been given the power to sanction the use of surveillance techniques under the same rules that govern the work of MI5, GCHQ and the police.

Customs officers who are fighting gun-runners, drug-smugglers and people-traffickers have also had similar surveillance approval.

The Inland Revenue and Customs were amalgamated three years ago into HMRC, which last night said the new move simply gave taxmen the same power to battle crime as their colleagues.

The revenue section's go-ahead is the result of the Serious Crimes Act, which gained Royal assent last October and has just allowed the relevant powers to come into effect.

Last night, HMRC officials played down the significance of the move, calling it an "across-the-board rationalisation".

A spokesman said: "These powers will not be used in routine cases but will be used to combat large-scale criminal cases. They are needed to protect Tax Credits and the tax repayment system from organised fraud."

He also confirmed that tax inspectors were already being trained in intrusive surveillance techniques – but refused to say how many officers it involved.

The spokesman added: "We are working with our existing staff to give them adequate resources to use their new powers."

An internal manual covering previous powers reveals just how dramatic the changes are for investigators. The manual said inspectors were barred from going "into any part of the property without permission – for example, you should always ask permission to use the bathroom".

The booklet also warned inspectors not to "look in cupboards or other areas that are not in full view, unless the claimant(s) invites you to do so".

And it said inspectors were banned from "keeping watch on residential premises (eg while sitting in a car parked outside) to see who comes out of the premises, and at what time".

The manual also banned "speaking to neighbours, friends etc to obtain information" and added: "If a neighbour challenges you, you should identify yourself, but you should not engage in any further discussion."

The new powers are opposed by professional bodies, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Harry Travers, of the Institute's Tax Investigations Practitioners Group, said: "There is no evidence that bugging is needed in relation to tax fraud.

"Inspectors already have wide-ranging powers to obtain search warrants, raid people's property, seize documents and computers.

"They don't need to be able to bug people as well. There is real risk of breaching human rights."