The Penalties for Enablers of Defeated Tax Avoidance (Legally Privileged Communications Declarations) Regulations 2017

These Regulations are made further to the provisions contained in Schedule 16 (“the Schedule”) to the Finance Act (No. 2) 2017. The Schedule makes provision for a penalty for any person who enables a taxpayer to enter into abusive tax arrangements that are defeated. Paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Schedule contain the definitions of an enabler. A potential enabler who is a relevant lawyer (as defined in the Schedule), or a relevant lawyer acting on their behalf, may be unable to provide information in defence of a penalty because communications made by them, or on their behalf by a relevant lawyer, may be the subject of a claim to legal professional privilege or, in Scotland, protected from disclosure in legal proceedings on the grounds of confidentiality of communication. These regulations, made under paragraph 44(4) of the Schedule, make provision that in such circumstances a relevant lawyer may make a declaration that the communications in question demonstrate that the person potentially liable for a penalty is not an enabler within the meaning of any of paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Schedule without requiring them to breach legal professional privilege.