Value Added Tax Act (Cap. 406), article 56

56. (1) Except as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act, or where the Commissioner otherwise directs, every person having any official duty or bei ng employed in the administratio n of this Act shall regard and deal w ith all documents and informati on relating to this Act as secret and confidential. (2) No person appointed under or employed in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be required to produce any documen t or to divulge any matter coming under his notice in the performance o f his duties under this Act except as may be lawfully required for th e purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act, or for the purpose or in the course of any appeal made in accordance with this Act or a prosecution for any off ence against any of the provisi ons of this Act, or in the course of an investigation or a prosecution for any relevant offence or during any judicial or quasi-judicial proce edings when ordered by a court or tri bunal to disclose information: Cap. 123. Provided that the provisions of this article shall not prejudic e the international obligations that the Commissioner or any pers on referred to in this sub-article may have, including confidentia lity obligations under arrangements made under article 76 of the Income Tax Act . (2A) For the purposes of this article, "relevant offence" means a criminal offence, not being one of an involuntary nature, consi sting of any act or omission which if committed in Malta, or in correspo nding circumstances, would constitute a n offence liable to the punish ment of imprisonment or of detention for a term of one (1) year or more . (3) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this article, the Commissioner may permit the Auditor General or any officer authorised by the Auditor Gene ral to have access to any records or documents as may be necessary for the performance of his offici al VALUE ADDED TAX [CAP. 406. 41 duties and for this purpose the Auditor General and any such authorised officer shall be deem ed to be a person employed in t he administration of this Act. Cap. 473. (4) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this article or of a ny other law, the Commissioner shall furnish to the competent auth ority designated under the Eco-Contribution Act such information being information obtained by the Commissioner for any of the purpose s of this Act. (5) Nothing contained in this ar ticle shall, after the accession date, prevent the disclosure by the Commissioner, of any information that is required to be disclosed in terms of Counci l Regulation (EU) No. 904/2010 or of any such other Council Regulation as may be prescribed. (6) For the purposes of this artic le, any information disclosed to the Commissioner by the fiscal authorities of another Member State in terms of any Council Regulation referred to in sub-art icle (5) shall be treated as informat ion relating to and obtained fo r the purposes of this Act. PART VII Special Cases Special cases. Substituted by: X. 2003.30. Amended by: II. 2009.48. Substituted by: IX.2025.69.