According to the statutory instrument published on legislation.gov.uk, HMRC has made the Anti-avoidance Information Notices (Resolution of Disputes as to Privilege) Regulations 2026. The instrument was made on 27 May 2026, laid before the House of Commons on 29 May 2026 and comes into force on 19 June 2026. It is made under section 186(5) of the Finance Act 2026. The change is procedural but important. As the explanatory note makes clear, the Regulations set the route for resolving disputes where HMRC issues an anti-avoidance information notice under sections 179 to 183 of the Finance Act 2026 and the recipient says that some of the requested material is privileged.
The Regulations do not restate the full meaning of privilege. Instead, they define privileged information by reference to section 186(2)(d) of the Finance Act 2026. They also define a working day as any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a bank holiday in any part of the United Kingdom under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971. That timing point matters because every stage of the dispute process is measured in working days rather than calendar days. For businesses, advisers and in-house legal teams, that means diary control will be central from the moment an information notice is received.
Regulation 3 applies where HMRC and the recipient of an information notice disagree about whether particular information is privileged. The first formal step falls on the recipient. A list must be served on HMRC identifying the information in dispute and including a description of the information and its contents. The drafting recognises that even a description can sometimes reveal what is said to be protected. For that reason, the Regulations say no description is required where the recipient considers that giving one would itself involve providing privileged information. That exception is likely to be especially relevant where the subject matter, author or context of a document is sensitive. The list must be served by the date for providing information set out in the notice, unless HMRC agrees a later date. Any extension agreed by HMRC must still fall within 20 working days beginning with the day after the original deadline.
Once the list has been served, HMRC must notify the recipient of any information on that list which HMRC considers is not privileged information. If material remains in dispute after that notification, the recipient must apply to the tribunal to resolve the issue. That application must be made within 20 working days beginning with the day after HMRC gives its notification. It must also include copies of the information that remains in dispute. The Regulations therefore move the argument out of correspondence alone and into a defined adjudicative process if the parties cannot agree. There is also a significant compliance protection. Where the procedural requirements in regulation 3 are met, the recipient is treated as having complied with the information notice, so far as the disputed material is concerned, until the tribunal decides the status of the information or a written agreement is reached with HMRC.
Regulation 4 gives the tribunal a confined but clear role. It may confirm whether, and to what extent, the disputed information is or is not privileged information. Regulation 5 then allows the matter to be settled at any stage by written agreement between HMRC and the recipient. The instrument also states that references to the recipient include a person acting on the recipient's behalf in relation to an information notice. In practice, that means professional advisers and other authorised representatives can take the procedural steps required by the Regulations without uncertainty over standing.
For taxpayers and advisers, the practical effect is straightforward. Claims to privilege in response to anti-avoidance information notices will now need early review of disputed documents, a careful record of what is being withheld, and close management of two separate 20-working-day periods. Missing the first deadline could prevent material being placed properly into dispute; missing the second could remove the route to tribunal determination. The explanatory note also states that a Tax Information and Impact Note was published on 26 November 2025 alongside the Budget and remains an accurate summary of the effects of the instrument. The Regulations were signed by Jonathan Athow and Myrtle Lloyd, two of the Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, on 27 May 2026. From 19 June 2026, disputes about privileged material requested under these anti-avoidance notice powers will proceed under a statutory process with fixed deadlines and a tribunal backstop.