HM Revenue & Customs has announced the creation of a new department which will focus specifically on UK taxpayers who have hidden money in offshore accounts. The department will co-ordinate use of the increasing volume of data which HMRC is receiving in relation to UK taxpayers' offshore activities.
One of their first tasks will be to deal with the 6,000 HSBC Geneva account holders whose details were stolen and passed to the UK tax authorities (see Is HMRC Profiting from the Proceeds of Crime?).
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said as part of the announcement:
“The days when untaxed income or capital could be safely salted away offshore, beyond the reaches of the taxman, are long gone.
The launch of this specialist unit, together with the other valuable work the department is driving forward in an effort to tackle offshore evasion, underlines the fact that offshore tax cheats are fast running out of places to hide.”
Although the announcement also mentions the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility, (LDF), which offers extremely favourable terms for those holding accounts in that principality. The disparity in treatments currently on offer from HMRC is unlikely to be lost on those holding accounts in HSBC Geneva.
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