64A.—(1) The Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or an officer authorised by either of them in that behalf —| (a) | is entitled at all times to full and free access to all properties, documents, computers, computer programs and computer software (whether installed in a computer or otherwise) for any of the purposes of this Act; | | (b) | is entitled to access to any information, code or technology which has the capability of retransforming or unscrambling encrypted data contained in or available to such computers into readable and comprehensive format or text for any of the purposes of this Act; | | (c) | is entitled —| (i) | without fee or reward, to inspect, copy or take extracts from any such document, computer, computer program, computer software or computer output; and | | (ii) | at any reasonable time to inspect and check the operation of any computer, device, apparatus or material which is or has been in use in connection with anything to which this section applies; |
| | (d) | may take possession of any such document, computer, device, apparatus, material, computer program or computer software where in his or her opinion —| (i) | the inspection, checking or copying of such item or extraction from such item cannot reasonably be performed without taking possession; | | (ii) | any such item may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession is taken; or | | (iii) | any such item may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under this Act or in proceedings for the recovery of tax or penalty, or in proceedings by way of an appeal against an assessment; |
| | (e) | is entitled to require —| (i) | the person by whom or on whose behalf the computer is or has been used, or any person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of the computer, device, apparatus or material, to provide the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the officer with such reasonable assistance as he or she may require for the purposes of this section; and | | (ii) | any person in possession of decryption information to grant the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the officer access to such decryption information that is necessary to decrypt data required for the purposes of this section; and |
| | (f) | is entitled to require a person in or at the property, and who appears to the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the officer to be acquainted with any facts or circumstances concerning the person’s or another person’s property —| (i) | to answer any question to the best of that person’s knowledge, information and belief; or | | (ii) | to take reasonable steps to produce a document for inspection. [38/2017] |
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| (2) The Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or an officer authorised by either of them in that behalf, may by notice require any person to give orally, in writing, or through the electronic service, as may be required, all such information concerning the person’s or any other person’s property as may be demanded of the person by the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the officer (as the case may be) for the purposes of this Act. [38/2017] |
(3) For the purposes of this Act, the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or an officer authorised by either of them in that behalf, may by notice require any person to attend personally before the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or an officer authorised by the Comptroller or the Chief Assessor in that behalf, at a place and time specified in the notice to do one or both of the following:| (a) | provide, to the best of that person’s knowledge, information and belief, any information concerning the person’s or any other person’s property; | | (b) | take reasonable steps to produce for inspection a document concerning the property. [38/2017] |
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| (4) To avoid doubt, section 65(1) does not apply to a notice under subsection (2) or (3). [38/2017] |
(5) The power to require a person to provide information or produce a document under subsection (1)(f) or (2), or when in attendance before the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor, or an authorised officer pursuant to a notice under subsection (3), includes the power —| (a) | to require that person, or any person who is or was an officer or employee of that person, to provide an explanation of the information or document; | | (b) | if the information is not provided or the document is not produced, to require that person to state, to the best of the person’s knowledge and belief, where it is; | | (c) | if the information is recorded otherwise than in legible form, to require the information to be made available to the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the authorised officer (as the case may be) in legible form; and | | (d) | in the case of a document, to inspect, copy or take extracts from the document without fee or reward, and to take possession of the document if in the opinion of the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the authorised officer —| (i) | the inspection, copying or extraction cannot reasonably be performed without taking possession of the document; | | (ii) | the document may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession of the document is taken; or | | (iii) | the document may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under this Act or in proceedings for the recovery of tax or penalty, or in proceedings by way of an appeal against an assessment. [38/2017] |
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(6) A statement made by any person asked under subsection (1)(f), or in compliance with a demand for information, must —| (a) | be reduced to writing; | | (b) | be read over to the person; | | (c) | if the person does not understand English, be interpreted for the person in a language that the person understands; and | | (d) | be signed by the person. [38/2017] |
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(7) Any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails, neglects or refuses to comply with any notice or requirement of the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or an officer authorised by either of them in that behalf under this section, or with a demand for information, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —| (a) | to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both; and | | (b) | in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction. [38/2017] |
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(8) Any person who, in purported compliance with a notice or requirement of the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or an officer authorised by either of them in that behalf under this section, or with a demand for information, produces any document which contains any information, or provides any information, known to the person to be false or misleading in a material particular —| (a) | without indicating to the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the officer that the information is false or misleading and the part that is false or misleading; and | | (b) | without providing correct information to the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the officer if the person is in possession of, or can reasonably acquire, the correct information, |
| shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
[38/2017] |
| (9) A person is not obliged under this section to disclose (including through the production of a document) any information which the person is under any statutory obligation to observe secrecy. [38/2017] |
| (10) The generality of the term “reasonable excuse” in subsection (7) is not affected by subsection (9). [38/2017] |
(11) In this section —| “computer” and “computer output” have the meanings given by section 2(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993; |
| “demand for information” means a demand by the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or an officer authorised by either of them in that behalf to answer a question when in attendance before the Comptroller, the Chief Assessor or the officer pursuant to a notice under subsection (3); |
“document” includes, in addition to a written document —| (a) | any map, plan, graph or drawing; | | (b) | any photograph; | | (c) | any label, marking or other writing which identifies or describes anything of which it forms a part, or to which it is attached by any means; | | (d) | any disc, tape, soundtrack or other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual images) are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced from it; | | (e) | any film (including microfilm), negative, tape, disc or other device in which one or more visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced from it; and | | (f) | any paper or other material on which there are marks, impressions, figures, letters, symbols or perforations having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them; |
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| “writing” includes any mode of representing or reproducing words, figures, drawings or symbols in a visible form. [38/2017; 9/2018] |
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