Recent years have seen a major increase both in HMRC's powers and also the information at HMRC's disposal. The Finance Bill 2020/21 published this July introduces a further measure giving HMRC a significant new power to obtain information.

The draft rules introduce the concept of a Financial Institution Notice (FIN), as an addition to HMRC's existing formal information powers. This will allow HMRC to issue notices to banks and other financial institutions (including credit card companies) placing them under a legal obligation to provide documents or information about a particular taxpayer. Importantly, HMRC will be able to do thi...