IDG40630 | Sharing information outside of HMRC: disclosure in insolvency cases: enquiries from a liquidator, administrative receiver or administrator

Liquidators, administrators and administrative receivers are appointed to companies only. Upon their appointment the individual insolvency practitioner appointed ‘stands in the shoes of the company’ i.e. they become the company. Therefore you can disclose anything to them concerning the company’s affairs that you would have been able to disclose to the company. However, you should note that if a receiver is appointed under the Scots law of receivership, their powers do not extend to authorising the release of information to third parties. When a liquidator is appointed to act for a company, staff should consider obtaining consent from the liquidator to communicate with HMRC via email, in line with HMRC email protocols.

Disclosure must be limited to information about the company that it would ordinarily be aware of. For example:

• correspondence between HMRC and the company

• details of payments made by the company

• reports of meetings attended.

You cannot disclose:

• internal HMRC memos which the company would not be aware of

• information about the directors’ personal affairs.

However, as the insolvency practitioner stands in the company’s shoes he or she is entitled to make any Data Protection Act or Freedom of Information Act requests that the company could otherwise have made.