The Inland Revenue Department's computer security is to be investigated after an employee looked up the tax records of an opponent in a business dispute.
The worker, a field assessor, was involved in a rental dispute with a woman, which was taken to the Small Claims Tribunal.
During the hearing he identified himself as an Inland Revenue staff member and produced details of the woman's property holdings as evidence to support his case.
She complained to the Ombudsman, who discovered the man had gained access to her records even though he was not her assessor.
The employee's initial explanation was that the woman's father had been a candidate for a field audit.
The Ombudsman said the assessor had 'clearly abused his official position' and broken internal guidelines on conflicts of interest.
But even though he had used the tax computer to look at the woman's records, there was no evidence to contradict his claim that the information he used in court had come from other 'private sources'.
