Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether HMRC is able to access UK citizens' bank accounts and other personal data without their permission and without judicial oversight.

Under longstanding powers HMRC can require banks and building societies to provide data on interest paid to, or collected on behalf of, their customers, without the customer’s permission or judicial approval.

With the approval of the taxpayer or the First Tier Tribunal, HMRC can require additional information from banks about a specific taxpayer that is reasonably required to check the taxpayer’s tax position. These data and information gathering powers, some of which have been in continual use since their introduction at the end of the eighteenth century, are regularly reviewed.