HMRC v Third party and taxpayer

In HMRC v Third party and taxpayer [2023] UKFTT 71 (TC) (19 January 2023) (an anonymised and redacted decision) the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) granted HMRC's application to issue a third party notice to a law firm to require the firm to provide information and documents on various conveyancing transactions where the firm had acted for the taxpayer subject to anything that was protected by legal professional privilege.

Under FA 2008 Sch 36 HMRC has powers to obtain documents and information from taxpayers and/or third parties in order to check a person’s tax position or collect a tax debt. It also has inspection powers. However those powers do not extend to documents protected by legal professional privilege. 

If an information or third party notice has been served and the recipient wishes to withhold documents on the grounds that they...