HL Deb 17 July 2000 vol 615 c64WA
Lord Donoughue

asked Her Majesty's Government:

  1. (a) what are the procedures in the Inland Revenue to protect citizens having details of their private tax situation published to outsiders;
  2. (b) whether these procedures were followed when the details of Lord Levy's taxes were revealed to outsiders, and, if not, why not; and
  3. (c) what action is being taken to ensure that this occurrence is not repeated. [HL3224]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

  1. (a) The Inland Revenue issues a range of guidance materials and instructions to staff which emphasises the need to be extremely vigilant when dealing with taxpayers, especially over the telephone. It also issues periodic reminders to reinforce this important message and provides advice on the checks that should be carried out to establish and verify a taxpayer's identity.
  2. (b) The caller who contacted the Inland Revenue purporting to be Lord Levy possessed information which would normally only be known to the taxpayer. The Inland Revenue is satisfied that the staff concerned followed official instructions but were misled by a sophisticated and determined bogus caller.
  3. (c) The Chairman of the Inland Revenue has recently written to all staff reminding them of the need to take extreme care when handling telephone calls. Additional instructions and guidance were also issued to reinforce the material already given to staff.