Section 17: Restriction on disclosure of information

17. Restriction on disclosure of information (1) Subject to subsection (2), and except for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act— (a) no individual return made for the purposes of this Act; (b) no answer given to a question put for the purposes of this Act; and (c) no report, abstract or other document, containing particulars comprised in the return or answer so arranged as to enable identification of the particulars with any person, undertaking or business, shall be published, admitted in evidence, disclosed to a Ministry or Government Department or shown to a person not employed in the execution of a duty under this Act, unless the previous consent in writing has been obtained from the person making the return or giving the answer, or, in the case of an undertaking or business, from the owner for the time being of the undertaking or business. (2) Nothing in this section shall prevent or restrict the publication of a report, abstract or other document without such consent, where the particulars in the report, abstract or other document enable identification merely by reason of the fact that the particulars relate to an undertaking or business which is the only undertaking or business within its particular sphere of activities, but in no case shall the particulars enable identification of the costs of production, the capital employed or profits arising in any such undertaking or business.