Second Chance with Tax Amnesty?
As the 26 November deadline for making disclosures under the Offshore Disclosure Facility approaches it has was reported last week that HM Revenue & Customs are considering a second “tax amnesty”. An HMRC spokesperson has confirmed that plans are being put in place to repeat the ‘amnesty’ that was carried out earlier in the year.
She says:
“Yes there will be another facility but we’re not sure when or how that will operate.”
As my colleague Lisa Spearman related back in September the Revenue has widened the scope of its enquiries into offshore accounts. However last week’s reports are slightly at odds with the message being given out on the Revenue website which reads:
“HMRC is pursuing those with offshore accounts and tax liabilities who have not notified. After 26 November we will continue to pursue those who decide not to disclose. In these cases the penalties could be 100% of the tax due and in exceptional circumstances criminal investigation may be considered.”
In fact, today, it appears that HMRC are already backtracking on the idea.
It would appear that the disclosure facility was not as successful as HMRC had hoped and they may now want to encourage those who didn’t disclose the first time around to come clean. Perhaps the Revenue will give more publicity to a second amnesty if , and when it appears?
“Yes there will be another facility but we’re not sure when or how that will operate.”
As my colleague Lisa Spearman related back in September the Revenue has widened the scope of its enquiries into offshore accounts. However last week’s reports are slightly at odds with the message being given out on the Revenue website which reads:
“HMRC is pursuing those with offshore accounts and tax liabilities who have not notified. After 26 November we will continue to pursue those who decide not to disclose. In these cases the penalties could be 100% of the tax due and in exceptional circumstances criminal investigation may be considered.”
In fact, today, it appears that HMRC are already backtracking on the idea.
It would appear that the disclosure facility was not as successful as HMRC had hoped and they may now want to encourage those who didn’t disclose the first time around to come clean. Perhaps the Revenue will give more publicity to a second amnesty if , and when it appears?
