Clause 45

by deleting the word “and” at the end of subsection (1)(d);

by deleting the full‑stop at the end of paragraph (e) of subsection (1) and substituting the word “; and”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph:“(f)shall be entitled to require a person in or at the building or place and who appears to the Comptroller or officer to be acquainted with any facts or circumstances concerning the person’s or another person’s income, assets or liabilities —

to answer any question to the best of that person’s knowledge, information and belief; or

to take reasonable steps to produce a document for inspection.”;

by inserting, immediately after the word “disclose” in subsection (2), the words “(including through the production of a document)”; and

by inserting, immediately after subsection (3A), the following subsections:“(3B) For the purposes of this Act, the Comptroller may by notice require any person to attend personally before the Comptroller or an officer authorised by the Comptroller, at the place and time specified in the notice, to do one or both of the following:

provide, to the best of that person’s knowledge, information and belief, any information concerning the person’s or any other person’s income, assets or liabilities;

take reasonable steps to produce for inspection any document concerning any of those matters.(3C) The power to require a person to provide information or produce a document under subsection (1)(f) or (3), or when in attendance before the Comptroller or an authorised officer pursuant to a notice under subsection (3B), includes the power —

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;

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;

if the information is recorded otherwise than in legible form, to require the information to be made available to the Comptroller or authorised officer (as the case may be) in legible form; and

in the case of a document, to inspect, copy or make extracts from the document without fee or reward, and to take possession of the document if in the Comptroller or authorised officer’s opinion —

the inspection, copying or extraction cannot reasonably be performed without taking possession of the document;

the document may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession of the document is taken; or

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.(3D) A statement made by any person asked under subsection (1)(f), or when in attendance before the Comptroller or an authorised officer pursuant to a notice under subsection (3B), must —

be reduced to writing;

be read over to the person;

if the person does not understand English, be interpreted for the person in a language that the person understands; and

be signed by the person.(3E) In this section —“document” includes, in addition to a document in writing —

any map, plan, graph or drawing;

any photograph;

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;

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;

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

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;“writing” includes any mode of representing or reproducing words, figures, drawings or symbols in a visible form.”.