IR49                               29 November 1994

       CLOSER WORKING BETWEEN THE INLAND REVENUE AND
                    CUSTOMS AND EXCISE

The  Chancellor  proposes in his Budget  that  the  Inland
Revenue and  Customs and Excise should work more  closely together.
Plans   drawn up between the two departments should lead to a better
service for taxpayers (particularly  business), some improvements in
efficiency in the two Departments and an increase in tax
yield.

                          DETAILS

1.   One of the outcomes of work connected with the Inland
Revenue and  Customs  and Excise Fundamental  Expenditure Reviews
was not to merge the departments but for them  to work  together more
closely. Ministers have agreed a plan to  do  this,  along  the lines
of the   Government's  White Paper on Competitiveness.

2.    A  number of initiatives will be launched to improve
customer service.  One has already been announced with the extension
of the   Revenue Adjudicator scheme to Customs and Excise matters
(Customs and Excise Press Release 45/94  of 9 November).

3.     A  range  of  other  projects  is  being  launched,
primarily  aimed  at  improving  taxpayers'   access   to information
about  taxation.  The main priority of business was  to  obtain
easy access to an authoritative answer  on tax  matters from either
Department. A number of projects will  be  set  up  which will include
the introduction  of shared  telephone  helplines, joint
educational seminars, and  jointly-run  Mobile Advice Centres.   Other
projects    will  look at common support activities, such as training,
to assess   any improvements in efficiency from working more closely.


4.    Surveys  have shown that compliant taxpayers  -  the
majority -  want the revenue Departments to detect the non- compliant
and uphold  the law.  One way of doing this is by exchange  of
information.  The Departments  already  have statutory  powers  (dating  back
to 1972)  to   exchange information.   Initially all such
exchanges were  carried out  between  the two Head Offices.  In 1988
authority to exchange  information was extended to local  offices,
but Ministers   gave  an  undertaking  that  this   would   be
restricted to larger cases of evasion.  As  part  of  the programme  of
closer     working, the constraints on  exchange of  information
between the two Departments  will  now  be removed.

5.    But  the  principle that taxpayers'  affairs  remain
private and   confidential  will  be  preserved:    both Departments
will    apply the same standards of  privacy  to information
received  from each  other  as  they  do  to information  they receive
direct from    taxpayers  or  third parties.

                     NOTES FOR EDITORS

1.   The Government's White Paper on Competitiveness (Cmnd
2563) said  that the boundary between the Inland  Revenue and
Customs and Excise was being reviewed.

2.    A joint team drawn from the two Departments has been
working     together  to  review  promising  areas   and   to recommend
a number  of  projects  to  implement   closer working.   The
views of business were  sought  through  a survey  and  the proposed
programme takes full account  of their views.

3.    Similar initiatives for closer working are now  also
being  considered with the Contributions Agency.